I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1026 
To extend the authorization for the national flood insurance program, to 
identify priorities essential to reform and ongoing stable functioning 
of the program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 10, 2011 
Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. 
AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. COSTELLO, Ms. MATSUI, and Mr. CARDOZA) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Fi-
nancial Services 
A BILL 
To extend the authorization for the national flood insurance 
program, to identify priorities essential to reform and 
ongoing stable functioning of the program, 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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Flood Insurance Reform Priorities Act of 2011’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings and purposes. 
Sec. 3. Extension of national flood insurance program. 
Sec. 4. Maximum coverage limits. 
Sec. 5. Phase-in of actuarial rates for nonresidential properties, non-primary 
residences, severe repetitive loss properties, and properties sub-
stantially damaged or improved. 
Sec. 6. 5-year delay in effective date of mandatory purchase requirement for 
new flood hazard areas. 
Sec. 7. 5-year phase-in of flood insurance rates for newly mapped areas. 
Sec. 8. Increase in annual limitation on premium increases. 
Sec. 9. Consideration of construction, reconstruction, and improvement of flood 
protection systems in determination of flood insurance rates. 
Sec. 10. Discounted flood insurance rates for properties protected by a flood- 
protection system from less than a 100-year frequency flood. 
Sec. 11. Treatment of certain flood protection projects. 
Sec. 12. Prohibition of extension of subsidized rates to lapsed policies. 
Sec. 13. Notification to homeowners regarding mandatory purchase require-
ment applicability and rate phase-ins. 
Sec. 14. Community outreach plan for updating floodplain areas and flood-risk 
zones. 
Sec. 15. Notification of establishment of flood elevations. 
Sec. 16. Coverage for additional living expenses and business interruption. 
Sec. 17. Exception to waiting period for effective date of policies. 
Sec. 18. Minimum deductibles for claims. 
Sec. 19. Payment of premiums in installments for residential properties. 
Sec. 20. Termination of force-placed insurance. 
Sec. 21. Enforcement. 
Sec. 22. Notification to tenants of availability of contents insurance. 
Sec. 23. Grants for direct funding of mitigation activities for individual repet-
itive claims properties. 
Sec. 24. Flood insurance outreach. 
Sec. 25. Treatment of swimming pool enclosures outside of hurricane season. 
Sec. 26. Requirements relating to windstorm and flood. 
Sec. 27. Notice of availability of flood insurance and escrow in RESPA good 
faith estimate. 
Sec. 28. Authorization of additional FEMA staff. 
Sec. 29. Plan to verify maintenance of flood insurance on Mississippi and Lou-
isiana properties receiving emergency supplemental funds. 
Sec. 30. Flood insurance advocate. 
Sec. 31. Treatment of previously mapped areas. 
Sec. 32. Remapping of areas with improved levees. 
Sec. 33. Appeals. 
Sec. 34. Eligibility of property demolition and rebuilding under flood mitigation 
assistance program. 
Sec. 35. Study regarding mandatory purchase requirement for non-federally re-
lated loans. 
Sec. 36. Study of methods to increase flood insurance program participation by 
low-income families and families in rural communities and on 
Indian reservations. 
Sec. 37. Report on inclusion of building codes in floodplain management cri-
teria. 
Sec. 38. Study on repaying flood insurance debt. 
Sec. 39. Study regarding certain harbor areas. 
Sec. 40. Study regarding hazard modeling. 
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Sec. 41. Study regarding impact of rate increases on pre-FIRM properties. 
Sec. 42. Study of effects of Act. 
Sec. 43. Reimbursement for costs incurred by homeowners obtaining letters of 
map amendment. 
Sec. 44. Interim final rulemaking. 
Sec. 45. Study on private insurance market, community participation in the 
National Flood Insurance Program, and the regionalization of 
the National Flood Insurance Program. 
Sec. 46. Ethics compliance. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— 
(1) since the enactment of National Flood In-
surance Act of 1968, the national flood insurance 
program has been the primary source of reliable, 
reasonably priced, flood insurance coverage for mil-
lions of American homes and businesses; 
(2) today over 5,500,000 homes and businesses 
in the United States rely on the national flood insur-
ance program to provide a degree of financial secu-
rity; 
(3) although participation in the national flood 
insurance program has, in the past, largely been lim-
ited to properties required to participate in the pro-
gram because of the program’s mandatory purchase 
requirement for properties in special flood hazard 
areas with loans from federally regulated lenders, re-
cent annual and extraordinary flooding has resulted 
in the program enjoying its highest voluntary par-
ticipation since the establishment of the mandatory 
flood insurance purchase requirement; 
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(4) several years of below-average flood claims 
losses and increased voluntary participation in the 
national flood insurance program have allowed the 
program to fully service the debt incurred following 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and allowed the pro-
gram to pay $598,000,000 of the principal of that 
outstanding debt; 
(5) though significant reforms are needed to 
further improve the financial outlook of the national 
flood insurance program, long-term and reliable au-
thorization of the program is an essential element to 
stabilizing the already fragile United States housing 
market; 
(6) increased flooding in areas outside des-
ignated special flood hazard areas prompted the Ex-
ecutive and the Congress in 2002 to begin calling for 
the national flood insurance program to develop and 
disseminate revised, updated flood insurance rate 
maps that reflect the real risk of flooding for prop-
erties not previously identified as being located with-
in a special flood hazard area; 
(7) dissemination of accurate, up-to-date, flood- 
risk information remains a primary goal of the na-
tional flood insurance program and such information 
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should be disseminated as soon as such information 
is collected and available; 
(8) communities should be encouraged to make 
their residents aware of updated flood-risk data 
while communities are assessing and incorporating 
updated flood-risk data into long-term community 
planning; 
(9) the maximum coverage limits for flood in-
surance policies should be increased to reflect infla-
tion and the increased cost of housing; and 
(10) phasing out flood insurance premium sub-
sidies currently extended to vacation homes, second 
homes, and commercial properties would result in 
significant average annual savings to the national 
flood insurance program. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to identify priorities essential to the reform 
and ongoing stable functioning of the national flood 
insurance program; 
(2) to increase incentives for homeowners and 
communities to participate in the national flood in-
surance program and to improve oversight to ensure 
better accountability of the national flood insurance 
program and the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency; and 
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