I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1797 
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 11, 2021 
Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself and Mrs. WAGNER) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
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. 
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’’. 
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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 adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR REPEAT-
EDLY DAMAGED AREAS.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘covered community’ means 
a community— 
‘‘(i) that is participating in the na-
tional flood insurance program under sec-
tion 1315; and 
‘‘(ii) within which are located— 
‘‘(I) not fewer than 50 repetitive 
loss structures with respect to each of 
which, during any 10-year period, 
there have been not fewer than 2 
claims for payments under flood in-
surance coverage for a total amount 
that is more than $1,000; 
‘‘(II) not fewer than 5 severe re-
petitive loss structures for which miti-
gation activities meeting the stand-
ards 
for 
approval 
under 
section 
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1366(c)(2)(A) have not been con-
ducted; or 
‘‘(III) a public facility or a pri-
vate nonprofit facility that has re-
ceived assistance for repair, restora-
tion, reconstruction, or replacement 
under section 406 of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-
gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5172) relating to more than 1 flood-
ing event during the most recent 10- 
year period; 
‘‘(B) the terms ‘private nonprofit facility’ 
and ‘public facility’ have the meanings given 
those terms in section 102 of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-
ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122); and 
‘‘(C) the term ‘severe repetitive loss struc-
ture’ has the meaning given the term in section 
1366(h). 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS
FOR
COVERED
COMMU-
NITIES.—The Administrator shall, by regulation, re-
quire a covered community to— 
‘‘(A) determine the areas within the cov-
ered community in which properties described 
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in paragraph (1)(A)(ii) or flood-damaged facili-
ties are located in order to identify areas that 
are repeatedly damaged by floods; 
‘‘(B) assess, with assistance from the Ad-
ministrator, the continuing risks to the repeat-
edly damaged areas identified under subpara-
graph (A); 
‘‘(C) develop a community-specific plan for 
mitigating continuing flood risks to the repeat-
edly damaged areas identified under subpara-
graph (A); 
‘‘(D) submit the plan described in subpara-
graph (C) and any plan updates to the Admin-
istrator at appropriate intervals; 
‘‘(E) implement the plan described in sub-
paragraph (C); and 
‘‘(F) subject to section 552a of title 5, 
United States Code, make the plan described in 
subparagraph (C), any updates to the plan, and 
reports on progress in reducing flood risk avail-
able to the public. 
‘‘(3) INCORPORATION INTO EXISTING PLANS.— 
A covered community may incorporate a plan devel-
oped under paragraph (2)(C) into a mitigation plan 
developed under— 
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‘‘(A) section 1366; and 
‘‘(B) section 322 of the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5165). 
‘‘(4) ASSISTANCE TO COMMUNITIES.— 
‘‘(A) DATA.—To assist a covered commu-
nity in developing a plan required under para-
graph (2)(C), the Administrator shall, upon re-
quest, provide the covered community with ap-
propriate data regarding the property addresses 
and dates of claims associated with insured 
properties within the covered community. 
‘‘(B) MITIGATION GRANTS.—In making a 
determination regarding financial assistance 
under this Act, the Administrator may consider 
the extent to which a covered community— 
‘‘(i) has complied with this subsection; 
and 
‘‘(ii) is working to remedy problems 
with respect to repeatedly flooded areas. 
‘‘(5) SANCTIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator 
may, by regulations issued in accordance with 
the procedures required under section 553 of 
title 5, United States Code, impose appropriate 
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sanctions on a covered community that fails 
to— 
‘‘(i) comply with this subsection; or 
‘‘(ii) make sufficient progress in re-
ducing the flood risks to areas in the cov-
ered community that are repeatedly dam-
aged by floods. 
‘‘(B) NOTICE.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Before imposing 
any sanctions under this paragraph, the 
Administrator shall provide the covered 
community that is subject to the sanctions 
with notice of the violation that may sub-
ject the covered community to the sanc-
tions. 
‘‘(ii) CONTENTS.—The notice required 
under clause (i) shall include recommenda-
tions for actions that the covered commu-
nity receiving the notice may take in order 
to bring the covered community into com-
pliance. 
‘‘(C) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 
appropriate sanctions to impose under this 
paragraph, the Administrator shall consider the 
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