I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6108 
To authorize the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
to make grants to communities to be used for outreach efforts to encour-
age participation in the national flood insurance program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 
Ms. MATSUI (for herself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. 
BLUMENAUER, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. GEORGE 
MILLER of California, and Mr. SHIMKUS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To authorize the Director of the Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency to make grants to communities to be used 
for outreach efforts to encourage participation in the 
national flood insurance program. 
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 ‘‘Flood Insurance Com-
munity Outreach Grant Program Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Following the human suffering and devasta-
tion caused by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, the 
Federal Government and State and local govern-
ments have responded to public concerns about flood 
safety by increasing resources to improve flood pro-
tection measures in communities throughout the 
United States. 
(2) In the year since these disasters, the Fed-
eral Government has
directed $7,000,000,000 in 
emergency supplemental spending to restoring and 
strengthening hurricane protection in Louisiana and 
the Gulf Coast as well as $1,900,000,000 from the
annual budget
of the
U.S. Army Corps of Engi-
neers
for
flood control and hurricane protection 
measures across the Nation. 
(3) While improving this infrastructure is es-
sential to a comprehensive approach to flood protec-
tion, communities must be encouraged to better as-
sess their flood risk and better inform the public 
about the importance of maintaining flood insurance 
protection. 
(4) To reduce the flood risk to communities in 
the United States, the National Flood Insurance 
Program (NFIP) must be solvent and more effec-
tive. 
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(5) To achieve these goals, the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency (FEMA), which admin-
isters the NFIP, should work with communities to 
communicate directly with the people who live and 
work in the Nation’s floodplains on issues con-
cerning flood risk and flood protection. 
(6) More than 20,000 communities currently 
participate in the NFIP and nearly all of these com-
munities have properties that are located in special 
flood hazard areas—areas in which Federal law re-
quires that property owners purchase flood insur-
ance coverage before they can obtain a mortgage 
loan from a federally regulated lender. 
(7) Despite this mandatory purchase require-
ment, a FEMA-commissioned study by the RAND 
Corporation found that 20 to 25 percent of property 
owners in special flood hazard areas who have a 
mortgage from a federally regulated lender and are 
required to purchase flood insurance do not carry a 
policy. 
(8) In the next few years, the number of com-
munities that participate in the NFIP will increase, 
as FEMA’s flood map modernization program reas-
sesses the flood risk to communities throughout the 
Nation. 
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(9) As the map modernization program brings 
new communities under the flood insurance manda-
tory purchase requirement, FEMA should partner 
with these communities to educate property owners, 
business owners, and property renters about the na-
ture of the flood risk in their area and the impor-
tance of maintaining flood insurance protection. 
(10) In addition to improving public awareness 
of flood risk and flood insurance, many communities 
that undertake outreach activities can qualify for re-
duced flood insurance premiums under the NFIP’s 
community rating system program. 
(11) Flood risk is not limited to properties that 
are located in special flood hazard areas, and many 
properties that are no longer subject to the manda-
tory purchase requirement remain at risk of flood-
ing, especially in areas that are protected by levees. 
(12) FEMA estimates that between 20 and 25 
percent of all claims paid by the NFIP are for 
claims on properties located outside of these special 
flood hazard areas. 
(13) Thus, a property’s release from the Fed-
eral flood insurance purchase requirement does not 
mean that the property is no longer subject to risk 
of flooding. 
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(14) In communities where properties have been 
released from this Federal requirement, outreach ac-
tivities can help to educate the public about the im-
portance of voluntarily maintaining flood insurance 
coverage, including the potential availability of low- 
cost preferred risk policies. 
(15) Many property owners who own a home or 
building that is located in an area that is subject to 
moderate-to-low risk of flooding are unaware that 
they may qualify for the low-cost, preferred risk 
flood insurance—a product of the NFIP. 
(16) By partnering with local flood control au-
thorities, FEMA can better promote flood safety and 
flood insurance and, in communities with properties 
that are no longer subject to the mandatory pur-
chase requirement, retain a higher number of NFIP 
policies. 
(17) Reducing the number of uninsured prop-
erty owners in communities that are subject to flood 
risk will reduce the fiscal effects of a flood disaster 
to both property owners and the Federal Govern-
ment. 
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to estab-
lish a flood insurance outreach and education grants pro-
gram that provides resources to communities for educating 
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