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‘‘(10) in the case of any residential property 
and any commercial property, optional coverage for 
the full replacement costs of any contents related to 
the structure that exceed the limits of coverage oth-
erwise provided in this subsection shall be made 
available to every insured upon renewal and every 
applicant, except that such coverage shall be made 
available only at chargeable rates that are not less 
than the estimated premium rates for such coverage 
determined in accordance with section 1307(a)(1).’’. 
SEC. 10. NOTIFICATION TO TENANTS OF AVAILABILITY OF 
CONTENTS INSURANCE. 
The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 is amend-
ed by inserting after section 1308 (42 U.S.C. 4015) the 
following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 1308A. NOTIFICATION TO TENANTS OF AVAILABILITY 
OF CONTENTS INSURANCE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall, upon enter-
ing into a contract for flood insurance coverage under this 
title for any property located in an area having special 
flood hazards— 
‘‘(1) provide to the insured sufficient copies of 
the notice developed pursuant to subsection (b); and 
‘‘(2) strongly encourage the insured to provide 
a copy of the notice, or otherwise provide notifica-
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tion of the information under subsection (b) in the 
manner that the manager or landlord deems most 
appropriate, to each such tenant and to each new 
tenant upon commencement of such a tenancy. 
‘‘(b) NOTICE.—Notice to a tenant of a property in 
accordance with this subsection is written notice that 
clearly informs a tenant— 
‘‘(1) that the property is located in an area hav-
ing special flood hazards; 
‘‘(2) that flood insurance coverage is available 
under the national flood insurance program under 
this title for contents of the unit or structure leased 
by the tenant; 
‘‘(3) of the maximum amount of such coverage 
for contents available under this title at that time; 
and 
‘‘(4) of where to obtain information regarding 
how to obtain such coverage, including a telephone 
number, mailing address, and location on the World 
Wide Web of the Director where such information is 
available.’’. 
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SEC. 11. INCREASE IN ANNUAL LIMITATION ON PREMIUM 
INCREASES. 
Section 1308(e) of the National Flood Insurance Act 
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘10 
percent’’ and inserting ‘‘15 percent’’. 
SEC. 12. REPORT REGARDING BORROWING AUTHORITY. 
Not later than the expiration of the 6-month period 
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
shall submit a report to the Congress setting forth a plan 
for repaying within 10 years all amounts that, as of the 
expiration of such period, have been borrowed under the 
authority of section 1309(a) of the National Flood Insur-
ance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4016(a)) and not yet repaid 
as of such date. 
SEC. 13. FEMA PARTICIPATION IN STATE DISASTER CLAIMS 
MEDIATION PROGRAMS. 
Chapter I of the National Flood Insurance Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 4011 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 1325. FEMA PARTICIPATION IN STATE DISASTER 
CLAIMS MEDIATION PROGRAMS. 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT TO PARTICIPATE.—In the case 
of the occurrence of a natural catastrophe that may have 
resulted in flood damage covered by insurance made avail-
able under the national flood insurance program and a loss 
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covered by personal lines residential property insurance 
policy, upon request made by the insurance commissioner 
of a State (or such other official responsible for regulating 
the business of insurance in the State) for the participa-
tion of representatives of the Director in a program spon-
sored by such State for nonbinding mediation of insurance 
claims resulting from a natural catastrophe, the Director 
shall cause such representatives to participate in such 
State program, when claims under the national flood in-
surance program are involved, to expedite settlement of 
flood damage claims resulting from such catastrophe. 
‘‘(b) EXTENT OF PARTICIPATION.—Participation by 
representatives of the Director required under subsection 
(a) with respect to flood damage claims resulting from a 
natural catastrophe shall include— 
‘‘(1) providing adjusters certified for purposes 
of the national flood insurance program who are au-
thorized to settle claims against such program re-
sulting from such catastrophe in amounts up to the 
limits of policies under such program; 
‘‘(2) requiring such adjusters to attend State- 
sponsored mediation meetings regarding flood insur-
ance claims resulting from such catastrophe at times 
and places as may be arranged by the State; 
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‘‘(3) participating in good-faith negotiations to-
ward the settlement of such claims with policy-
holders of coverage made available under the na-
tional flood insurance program; and 
‘‘(4) finalizing the settlement of such claims on 
behalf of the national flood insurance program with 
such policyholders. 
‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—Representatives of the Direc-
tor who participate pursuant to this section in a State- 
sponsored mediation program with respect to a natural ca-
tastrophe shall at all times coordinate their activities with 
insurance officials of the State and representatives of in-
surers for the purpose of consolidating and expediting the 
settlement of claims under the national flood insurance 
program resulting from such catastrophe at the earliest 
possible time. 
‘‘(d) MEDIATION PROCEEDINGS
AND PRIVILEGED 
DOCUMENTS.—As a condition of the participation of Rep-
resentatives of the Director pursuant to this section in 
State-sponsored mediation, all statements made and docu-
ments produced pursuant to such mediation involving rep-
resentatives of the Director shall be deemed privileged and 
confidential settlement negotiations made in anticipation 
of litigation. 
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‘‘(e) EFFECT
OF PARTICIPATION
ON LIABILITY, 
RIGHT, AND OBLIGATIONS.—Participation of Representa-
tives of the Director pursuant to this section in State- 
sponsored mediation shall not affect or expand the liability 
of any party in contract or in tort, nor shall it affect the 
rights or obligations of the parties as provided in the 
Standard Flood Insurance Policy under the national flood 
insurance program, regulations of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, this Act, or Federal common law. 
‘‘(f) EXCLUSIVE FEDERAL JURISDICTION.—Partici-
pation of Representatives of the Director pursuant to this 
section in State-sponsored mediation shall not alter, 
change or modify the original exclusive jurisdiction of 
United States courts as provided in this Act. 
‘‘(g) COST LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to require the Director or representa-
tives of the Director to pay additional mediation fees relat-
ing to flood claims associated with a State-sponsored me-
diation program in which representatives of the Director 
participate. 
‘‘(h) EXCEPTION.—In the case of the occurrence of 
a natural catastrophe that results in flood damage claims 
under the national flood insurance program and does not 
result in any loss covered by a personal lines residential 
property insurance policy— 
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‘‘(1) this section shall not apply; and 
‘‘(2) the provisions of the Standard Flood In-
surance Policy under the national flood insurance 
program and the appeals process established pursu-
ant to section 205 of the Bunning-Bereuter- 
Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 
(Public Law 108–264; 118 Stat. 726) and regula-
tions issued pursuant to such section shall apply ex-
clusively. 
‘‘(i) REPRESENTATIVES
OF DIRECTOR.—For pur-
poses of this section, the term ‘representatives of the Di-
rector’ means representatives of the national flood insur-
ance program who participate in the appeals process es-
tablished pursuant to section 205 of the Bunning-Bereu-
ter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 
(Public Law 108–264; 118 Stat. 726) and regulations 
issued pursuant to such section.’’. 
SEC. 14. FEMA ANNUAL REPORT ON INSURANCE PROGRAM. 
Section 1320 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 4027) is amended— 
(1) and inserting in the section heading, by 
striking ‘‘ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘biennially’’; 
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(B) by striking ‘‘the President for submis-
sion to’’; and 
(C) by inserting ‘‘not later than June 30 
of each year’’ before the period at the end; 
(3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘biennial’’ and 
inserting ‘‘annual’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(c) FINANCIAL STATUS OF PROGRAM.—The report 
under this section for each year shall include information 
regarding the financial status of the national flood insur-
ance program under this title, including a description of 
the financial status of the National Flood Insurance Fund 
and current and projected levels of claims, premium re-
ceipts, expenses, and borrowing under the program.’’. 
SEC. 15. FLOOD INSURANCE OUTREACH. 
(a) GRANTS.—Chapter I of the National Flood Insur-
ance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4011 et seq.), as amended 
by the preceding provisions of this Act, is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 1326. GRANTS FOR OUTREACH TO PROPERTY OWN-
ERS AND RENTERS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director may, to the extent 
amounts are made available pursuant to subsection (h), 
make grants to local governmental agencies responsible for 
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floodplain management activities (including such agencies 
of Indians tribes, as such term is defined in section 4 of 
the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Deter-
mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103)) in communities 
that participate in the national flood insurance program 
under this title, for use by such agencies to carry out out-
reach activities to encourage and facilitate the purchase 
of flood insurance protection under this Act by owners and 
renters of properties in such communities and to promote 
educational activities that increase awareness of flood risk 
reduction. 
‘‘(b) OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.—Amounts from a grant 
under this section shall be used only for activities designed 
to— 
‘‘(1) identify owners and renters of properties 
in communities that participate in the national flood 
insurance program, including owners of residential 
and commercial properties; 
‘‘(2) notify such owners and renters when their 
properties become included in, or when they are ex-
cluded from, an area having special flood hazards 
and the effect of such inclusion or exclusion on the 
applicability of the mandatory flood insurance pur-
chase requirement under section 102 of the Flood 
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Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4012a) 
to such properties; 
‘‘(3) educate such owners and renters regarding 
the flood risk and reduction of this risk in their 
community, including the continued flood risks to 
areas that are no longer subject to the flood insur-
ance mandatory purchase requirement; 
‘‘(4) educate such owners and renters regarding 
the benefits and costs of maintaining or acquiring 
flood insurance, including, where applicable, lower- 
cost preferred risk policies under this title for such 
properties and the contents of such properties; and 
‘‘(5) encouraging such owners and renters to 
maintain or acquire such coverage. 
‘‘(c) COST SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In any fiscal year, the Di-
rector may not provide a grant under this section to 
a local governmental agency in an amount exceeding 
3 times the amount that the agency certifies, as the 
Director shall require, that the agency will con-
tribute from non-Federal funds to be used with 
grant amounts only for carrying out activities de-
scribed in subsection (b). 
‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.—For purposes of 
this subsection, the term ‘non-Federal funds’ in-
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cludes State or local government agency amounts, 
in-kind contributions, any salary paid to staff to 
carry out the eligible activities of the grant recipient, 
the value of the time and services contributed by vol-
unteers to carry out such services (at a rate deter-
mined by the Director), and the value of any do-
nated material or building and the value of any lease 
on a building. 
‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE COST LIMITATION.—Notwith-
standing subsection (b), the Director may use not more 
than 5 percent of amounts made available under sub-
section (g) to cover salaries, expenses, and other adminis-
trative costs incurred by the Director in making grants 
and provide assistance under this section. 
‘‘(e) APPLICATION AND SELECTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall provide 
for local governmental agencies described in sub-
section (a) to submit applications for grants under 
this section and for competitive selection, based on 
criteria established by the Director, of agencies sub-
mitting such applications to receive such grants. 
‘‘(2) SELECTION CONSIDERATIONS.—In select-
ing applications of local government agencies to re-
ceive grants under paragraph (1), the Director shall 
consider— 
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‘‘(A) the existence of a cooperative tech-
nical partner agreement between the local gov-
ernmental agency and the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency; 
‘‘(B) the history of flood losses in the rel-
evant area that have occurred to properties, 
both inside and outside the special flood haz-
ards zones, which are not covered by flood in-
surance coverage; 
‘‘(C) the estimated percentage of high-risk 
properties located in the relevant area that are 
not covered by flood insurance; 
‘‘(D) demonstrated success of the local 
governmental agency in generating voluntary 
purchase of flood insurance; and 
‘‘(E) demonstrated technical capacity of 
the local governmental agency for outreach to 
individual property owners. 
‘‘(f) DIRECT OUTREACH BY FEMA.—In each fiscal 
year that amounts for grants are made available pursuant 
to subsection (h), the Director may use not more than 50 
percent of such amounts to carry out, and to enter into 
contracts with other entities to carry out, activities de-
scribed in subsection (b) in areas that the Director deter-
mines have the most immediate need for such activities. 
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‘‘(g) REPORTING.—Each local government agency 
that receives a grant under this section, and each entity 
that receives amounts pursuant to subsection (f), shall 
submit a report to the Director, not later than 12 months 
after such amounts are first received, which shall include 
such information as the Director considers appropriate to 
describe the activities conducted using such amounts and 
the effect of such activities on the retention or acquisition 
of flood insurance coverage. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated for grants under this sec-
tion $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 
2012.’’. 
(b) REPORT ON CURRENT EFFORTS.—Not later than 
the expiration of the 60-day period beginning on the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency shall submit a report to 
the Congress identifying and describing the marketing and 
outreach efforts then currently being undertaken to edu-
cate consumers regarding the benefits of obtaining cov-
erage under the national flood insurance program. 
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SEC. 16. GRANTS FOR DIRECT FUNDING OF MITIGATION 
ACTIVITIES 
FOR 
INDIVIDUAL 
REPETITIVE 
CLAIMS PROPERTIES. 
(a) DIRECT GRANTS TO OWNERS.—Section 1323 of 
the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
4030) is amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘DI-
RECT’’ before ‘‘GRANTS’’; and 
(2) in the matter in subsection (a) that pre-
cedes paragraph (1)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘, to owners of such prop-
erties,’’ before ‘‘for mitigation actions’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘1’’ and inserting ‘‘two’’. 
(b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Paragraph (9) of sec-
tion 1310(a) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 
(42 U.S.C. 4017(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘which shall 
remain available until expended,’’ after ‘‘any fiscal year,’’. 
SEC. 17. EXTENSION OF PILOT PROGRAM FOR MITIGATION 
OF SEVERE REPETITIVE LOSS PROPERTIES. 
Section 1361A of the National Flood Insurance Act 
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4102a) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (k)(1), by striking ‘‘2005, 
2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009’’ and inserting ‘‘2008, 
2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012’’; and 
(2) by striking subsection (l). 
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SEC. 18. FLOOD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 
(a) ELIGIBILITY OF PROPERTY DEMOLITION AND 
REBUILDING.—Section 1366(e)(5)(B) of the National 
Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104c(e)(5)(B)) 
is amended by striking ‘‘or floodproofing’’ and inserting 
‘‘floodproofing, or demolition and rebuilding’’. 
(b) ELIMINATION OF LIMITATIONS ON AGGREGATE 
AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—Section 1366 of the National 
Flood Insurance Act of 1968 is amended by striking sub-
section (f). 
(c) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—Subsection (a) of section 
1367 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 
U.S.C. 4104d(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new sentence: ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of this title, amounts made available pursuant to this 
subsection shall not be subject to offsetting collections 
through premium rates for flood insurance coverage under 
this title.’’. 
(d) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 1366 of the 
National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘subsection (g)’’ each place such 
term appears in subsections (h) and (i)(2) and in-
serting ‘‘subsection (f)’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsections (g) through (k) 
as subsections (f) through (j), respectively; and 
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(3) by redesignating subsection (m) as sub-
section (k). 
SEC. 19. GAO STUDY OF METHODS TO INCREASE FLOOD IN-
SURANCE PROGRAM PARTICIPATION BY LOW- 
INCOME FAMILIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 
United States shall conduct a study to identify and ana-
lyze potential methods, practices, and incentives that 
would increase the extent to which low-income families (as 
such term is defined in section 3(b) of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b))) that own resi-
dential properties located within areas having special flood 
hazards purchase flood insurance coverage for such prop-
erties under the national flood insurance program. In con-
ducting the study, the Comptroller General shall analyze 
the effectiveness and costs of the various methods, prac-
tices, and incentives identified, including their effects on 
the national flood insurance program. 
(b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall submit 
to the Congress a report setting forth the conclusions of 
the study under this section not later than 12 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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