I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 921 
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 
FEBRUARY 8, 2007 
Ms. MATSUI (for herself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
BLUMENAUER, Mrs. TAUSCHER, 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 2007’’. 
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 Engineers 
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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(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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property owners and renters on flood insurance options 
while strengthening the national flood insurance program. 
SEC. 3. FLOOD INSURANCE OUTREACH GRANTS. 
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. 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 
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— 
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‘‘(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 
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.— 
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‘‘(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-
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.— 
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‘‘(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— 
‘‘(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 
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