I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5846 
To require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study 
regarding the buyout practices of the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 16, 2018 
Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. SANFORD, Mr. DUFFY, and Mr. DEFA-
ZIO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To require the Comptroller General of the United States 
to conduct a study regarding the buyout practices of 
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 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 ‘‘Promoting Flood Risk 
Mitigation Act’’. 
SEC. 2. GAO STUDY REGARDING BUYOUT PRACTICES. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:03 May 31, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5846.IH
H5846
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
(1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad-
ministrator of the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency; 
(2) the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-
gress’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 
(B) the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 
(C) the Committee on Financial Services of 
the House of Representatives; and 
(D) the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; 
(3) the terms ‘‘buyout practice’’ and ‘‘buyout 
program’’ mean a practice or program, as applicable, 
under which the Administrator provides assistance 
to State and local governments so that those entities 
may acquire flood-damaged properties; 
(4) the term ‘‘eligible property owner’’ means a 
policyholder under the National Flood Insurance 
Program with a household income that is not more 
than 120 percent of the mean household income for 
the community in which the primary residence of the 
policyholder is located; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:03 May 31, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5846.IH
H5846
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
(5) the term ‘‘National Flood Insurance Pro-
gram’’ means the program established under the Na-
tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 
et seq.); 
(6) the term ‘‘repetitive loss structure’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 1370(a) of the 
National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
4121(a)); and 
(7) the term ‘‘severe repetitive loss structure’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 1366(h) 
of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 
U.S.C. 4104c(h)). 
(b) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Comptroller General of 
the United States shall conduct a study to assess— 
(1) the efficacy of buyout practices, as in effect 
on the date on which the study is conducted; and 
(2) ways to streamline the buyout practices de-
scribed in paragraph (1) in order to provide more 
timely assistance to a larger number of State and 
local governments. 
(c) CONSIDERATIONS
AND ANALYSIS.—The study 
conducted under subsection (b) shall consider and analyze 
the following: 
(1) To the extent possible, current (as of the 
date on which the study is conducted) and future 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:03 May 31, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5846.IH
H5846
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
trends with respect to repetitive loss structures and 
severe repetitive loss structures that are insured 
under the National Flood Insurance Program, in-
cluding, with respect to both inland and coastal 
areas— 
(A) changes in flood risk, flood frequency, 
and flood magnitude since the inception of the 
National Flood Insurance Program; and 
(B) projections for changes in flood risk, 
flood frequency, and flood magnitude by 2025, 
2050, and 2075. 
(2) To the extent possible, buyout practices (as 
of the date on which the study is conducted), includ-
ing— 
(A) the availability of funding sources for 
buyout programs through various grant pro-
grams; 
(B) the total number of properties ac-
quired though buyout programs; 
(C) the average length of time for a State 
or local government to acquire a flood-damaged 
property under a buyout program, with that pe-
riod beginning on the date on which the State 
or local government, as applicable, begins par-
ticipating in the buyout program; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:03 May 31, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5846.IH
H5846
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS