IB 
Union Calendar No. 196 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1558 
[Report No. 115–276] 
To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to ensure community 
accountability for areas repetitively damaged by floods, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 16, 2017 
Mr. ROYCE of California (for himself and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
AUGUST 15, 2017 
Additional sponsors: Mr. ISSA, Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California, Mr. 
ROHRABACHER, and Mr. MESSER 
AUGUST 15, 2017 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 16, 2017] 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:47 Aug 15, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\H1558.RH
H1558
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
A BILL 
To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to 
ensure community accountability for areas repetitively 
damaged by floods, and for other purposes. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:47 Aug 15, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\H1558.RH
H1558
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
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 ‘‘Repeatedly Flooded 
Communities Preparation Act’’. 
SEC. 2. COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABILITY FOR REPETITIVELY 
FLOODED AREAS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1361 of the National Flood 
Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4102) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABILITY FOR REPETITIVELY 
DAMAGED AREAS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall, by 
regulation, require any covered community (as such 
term is defined in paragraph (5))— 
‘‘(A) to identify the areas within the com-
munity where properties described in paragraph 
(5)(B) or flood-damaged facilities are located to 
determine areas repeatedly damaged by floods 
and to assess, with assistance from the Adminis-
trator, the continuing risks to such areas; 
‘‘(B) to develop a community-specific plan 
for mitigating continuing flood risks to such re-
petitively flooded areas and to submit such plan 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:47 Aug 15, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1558.RH
H1558
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
and plan updates to the Administrator at appro-
priate intervals; 
‘‘(C) to implement such plans; 
‘‘(D) to make such plan, plan updates, and 
reports on progress in reducing flood risk avail-
able to the public, subject to section 552a of title 
5, United States Code. 
‘‘(2) INCORPORATION
INTO
EXISTING
PLANS.— 
Plans developed pursuant to paragraph (1) may be 
incorporated into mitigation plans developed under 
section 1366 of this Act (42 U.S.C. 4104c) and hazard 
mitigation plans developed under section 322 of the 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As-
sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5165). 
‘‘(3) ASSISTANCE TO COMMUNITIES.— 
‘‘(A) DATA.—To assist communities in 
preparation of plans required under paragraph 
(1), the Administrator shall, upon request, pro-
vide covered communities with appropriate data 
regarding the property addresses and dates of 
claims associated with insured properties within 
the community. 
‘‘(B) MITIGATION GRANTS.—In making de-
terminations 
regarding 
financial 
assistance 
under the authorities of this Act, the Adminis-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:47 Aug 15, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1558.RH
H1558
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
trator may consider the extent to which a com-
munity has complied with this subsection and is 
working to remedy problems with addressing re-
peatedly flooded areas. 
‘‘(4) SANCTIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator 
shall, by regulations issued in accordance with 
the procedures established under section 553 of 
title 5, United States Code, regarding sub-
stantive rules, provide appropriate sanctions for 
covered communities that fail to comply with the 
requirements under this subsection or to make 
sufficient progress in reducing the flood risks to 
areas in the community that are repeatedly 
damaged by floods. 
‘‘(B) NOTICE.—Before imposing any sanc-
tion pursuant to this paragraph, the Adminis-
trator shall provide the covered community in-
volved with notice of the non-compliance that 
could result in the imposition of sanctions, which 
shall include recommendations for actions to 
bring the covered community into compliance. 
‘‘(C) 
CONSIDERATIONS.—In 
determining 
appropriate sanctions to impose under this 
paragraph, the Administrator shall consider the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:47 Aug 15, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1558.RH
H1558
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
under section 1366(c)(2)(A) have not been 
conducted; or 
‘‘(iii) a public facility or a private 
nonprofit facility (as such terms are as de-
fined in section 102 of the Robert T. Staf-
ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-
ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)), that has re-
ceived assistance for repair, restoration, re-
construction, or replacement under section 
406 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5172) in connection with more than one 
flooding event in the most recent 10-year 
period. 
‘‘(6) REPETITIVE-LOSS
STRUCTURE.—For pur-
poses of this subsection, the term ‘repetitive loss struc-
ture’ has the meaning given such term in section 1370 
(42 U.S.C. 4121). 
‘‘(7) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 
the expiration of the 6-year period beginning upon 
the date of the enactment of this subsection, and not 
less than every 2 years thereafter, the Administrator 
shall submit a report to the Congress regarding the 
progress in implementing plans developed pursuant to 
paragraph (1)(B).’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:47 Aug 15, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1558.RH
H1558
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
(b) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency shall issue regulations nec-
essary to carry out subsection (e) of section 1361 of the Na-
tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as added by the amend-
ment made by subsection (a) of this section, not later than 
the expiration of the 12-month period that begins on the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 3. MONTHLY INSTALLMENT PAYMENT OF PREMIUMS. 
(a) AUTHORITY.—Subsection (g) of section 1308 of the 
National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015(g)) 
is amended— 
(1) by striking the subsection designation and all 
that follows through ‘‘With respect’’ and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(g) FREQUENCY OF PREMIUM COLLECTION.— 
‘‘(1) OPTIONS.—With respect’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) MONTHLY INSTALLMENT PAYMENT OF PRE-
MIUMS.— 
‘‘(A) EXEMPTION
FROM
RULEMAKING.— 
Until such time as the Administrator promul-
gates regulations implementing paragraph (1) of 
this subsection, the Administrator may adopt 
policies and procedures, notwithstanding any 
other provisions of law and in alignment and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:47 Aug 15, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1558.RH
H1558
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
consistent with existing industry escrow and 
servicing standards, necessary to implement such 
paragraph without undergoing notice and com-
ment rulemaking and without conducting regu-
latory analyses otherwise required by statute, 
regulation, or Executive order. 
‘‘(B) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Administrator 
may initially implement paragraph (1) of this 
subsection as a pilot program that provides for 
a gradual phase-in of implementation. 
‘‘(C) 
POLICYHOLDER
PROTECTION.—The 
Administrator may— 
‘‘(i) during the 12-month period begin-
ning on the date of the enactment of this 
subparagraph, charge policyholders choosing 
to pay premiums in monthly installments a 
fee for the total cost of the monthly collec-
tion of premiums not to exceed $25 annu-
ally; and 
‘‘(ii) after the expiration of the 12- 
month period referred to in clause (i), ad-
just the fee charged annually to cover the 
total cost of the monthly collection of pre-
miums as determined by the report sub-
mitted pursuant to subparagraph (D). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:47 Aug 15, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1558.RH
H1558
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
‘‘(D) REPORT.—Not later than six months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General shall submit a report to the 
Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, that 
sets forth all of the costs associated with the 
monthly payment of premiums, including any 
up-front costs associated with infrastructure de-
velopment, the impact on all policyholders in-
cluding those that exercise the option to pay 
monthly and those that do not, options for mini-
mizing the costs, particularly the costs to policy-
holders, and the feasibility of adopting practices 
that serve to minimize costs to policyholders such 
as automatic payments and electronic payments. 
‘‘(E) ANNUAL
REPORTS.—On an annual 
basis, the Administrator shall report to the Com-
mittee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate the 
ongoing costs associated with the monthly pay-
ment of premiums.’’. 
(b) 
IMPLEMENTATION.—Clause 
(ii) 
of 
section 
1307(a)(1)(B) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:47 Aug 15, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1558.RH
H1558
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
(42 U.S.C. 4014(a)(1)(B)(ii)) is amended by inserting be-
fore ‘‘any administrative expenses’’ the following: ‘‘the costs 
associated with the monthly collection of premiums pro-
vided for in section 1308(g) (42 U.S.C. 4015(g)), but only 
if such costs exceed the operating costs and allowances set 
forth in clause (i) of this subparagraph, and’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:47 Aug 15, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1558.RH
H1558
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS