I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5559 
To revise the National Flood Insurance Program to more fairly treat 
homeowners who purchase insurance under the program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 17, 2010 
Mr. HINCHEY (for himself, Mr. ARCURI, and Mr. MURPHY of New York) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Fi-
nancial Services 
A BILL 
To revise the National Flood Insurance Program to more 
fairly treat homeowners who purchase insurance under 
the 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 Fair-
ness Act of 2010’’. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:18 Jun 18, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5559.IH
H5559
smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. 5-YEAR DELAY IN EFFECTIVE DATE OF MANDATORY 
PURCHASE REQUIREMENT FOR NEW FLOOD 
HAZARD AREAS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102 of the Flood Disaster 
Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4012a) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(i) DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE OF MANDATORY 
PURCHASE REQUIREMENT
FOR NEW FLOOD HAZARD 
AREAS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any area 
that was not previously designated as an area having 
special flood hazards and that, pursuant to any 
issuance, revision, updating, or other change in flood 
insurance maps that takes effect on or after Sep-
tember 1, 2008, becomes designated as an area hav-
ing special flood hazards, such designation shall not 
take effect for purposes of subsection (a), (b), or (e) 
of this section, or section 202(a) of this Act, until 
the expiration of the 5-year period beginning upon 
the date that such maps, as issued, revised, update, 
or otherwise changed, become effective. 
‘‘(2) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
paragraph (1) may be construed to affect the appli-
cability of a designation of any area as an area hav-
ing special flood hazards for purposes of the avail-
ability of flood insurance coverage, criteria for land 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:18 Jun 18, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5559.IH
H5559
smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
management and use, notification of flood hazards, 
eligibility for mitigation assistance, or any other pur-
pose or provision not specifically referred to in para-
graph (1).’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The second sen-
tence of subsection (h) of section 1360 of the National 
Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101(h)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘Such’’ and inserting ‘‘Except for no-
tice regarding a change described in section 102(i)(1) of 
the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 
4012a(i)(1)), such’’. 
(c) NO REFUNDS.—Nothing in this section or the 
amendments made by this section may be construed to au-
thorize or require any payment or refund for flood insur-
ance coverage purchased for any property that covered any 
period during which such coverage is not required for the 
property pursuant to the applicability of the amendment 
made by subsection (a). 
SEC. 3. 5-YEAR PHASE-IN OF FLOOD INSURANCE RATES 
FOR NEWLY MAPPED AREAS. 
Section 1308 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 
paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or notice’’ after ‘‘pre-
scribe by regulation’’; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:18 Jun 18, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5559.IH
H5559
smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
(2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘and sub-
section (g)’’ before the first comma; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(g) 5-YEAR
PHASE-IN
OF
FLOOD
INSURANCE 
RATES FOR NEWLY MAPPED AREAS.—Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law relating to chargeable risk pre-
mium rates for flood insurance coverage under this title, 
in the case of any property that is located within any area 
that was not previously designated as an area having spe-
cial flood hazards and that, pursuant to any issuance, revi-
sion, updating, or other change in flood insurance maps, 
becomes designated as such an area, during the 5-year pe-
riod that begins upon the earlier of (A) the expiration of 
the period referred to in section 102(i)(1) of the Flood 
Disaster Protection Act of 1973 with respect to such area, 
or (B) the first date during such period referred to in such 
section 102(i)(1) with respect to such area that flood in-
surance coverage under this title is in effect for such prop-
erty, the chargeable premium rate for flood insurance 
under this title with respect to such shall be— 
‘‘(1) for the first year of such 5-year period, 20 
percent of the chargeable risk premium rate other-
wise applicable under this title to the property; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:18 Jun 18, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5559.IH
H5559
smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(2) for the second year of such 5-year period, 
40 percent of the chargeable risk premium rate oth-
erwise applicable under this title to the property; 
‘‘(3) for the third year of such 5-year period, 60 
percent of the chargeable risk premium rate other-
wise applicable under this title to the property; 
‘‘(4) for the fourth year of such 5-year period, 
80 percent of the chargeable risk premium rate oth-
erwise applicable under this title to the property; 
and 
‘‘(5) for the fifth year of such 5-year period, 
100 percent of the chargeable risk premium rate 
otherwise applicable under this title to the prop-
erty.’’. 
SEC. 4. REIMBURSEMENT OF PROPERTY OWNERS FOR 
COSTS INCURRED IN REQUESTS TO REMOVE 
PROPERTY FROM BASE FLOOD ELEVATIONS. 
Section 1360 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(k) REIMBURSEMENT OF PROPERTY OWNERS FOR 
COSTS INCURRED IN REQUESTS TO REMOVE PROPERTY 
FROM BASE FLOOD ELEVATIONS.—If an owner of a real 
property incurs expense in connection with the services of 
surveyors, engineers, or similar services, but not including 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:18 Jun 18, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5559.IH
H5559
smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
legal services, in effecting any request to the Director to 
remove the property from inclusion within the base flood 
elevations established under flood insurance map panels, 
and the Director grants such request in whole or in part, 
the Director shall reimburse such individual for such ex-
pense. The amount of such reimbursement shall be deter-
mined by the Director, based on the ratio of the successful 
portion of the request as compared to the entire request. 
The Director shall apply such ratio to the average cost 
of such services in the community for jobs of a similar 
size.’’. 
SEC. 5. COMMUNITY OUTREACH PLAN FOR UPDATING 
FLOODPLAIN 
AREAS 
AND 
FLOOD-RISK 
ZONES. 
The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency— 
(1) shall, not later than the expiration of the 
60-day period beginning upon the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, submit to the Congress a commu-
nity outreach plan for the updating of floodplain 
areas and flood-risk zones under section 1360(f) of 
the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 
U.S.C. 4101(f)); and 
(2) may not revise and update any floodplain 
area or flood-risk zone under such section 1360(f) of 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:18 Jun 18, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5559.IH
H5559
smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 until the 
date on which the Administrator submits such com-
munity outreach plan. 
SEC. 6. NOTIFICATION OF ESTABLISHMENT OF FLOOD ELE-
VATIONS. 
Section 1360 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101), as amended by the preceding pro-
visions of this Act, is further amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(l) NOTIFICATION TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS OF 
MAP MODERNIZATION.—Upon any revision or update of 
any floodplain area or flood-risk zone pursuant to sub-
section (f), any decision pursuant to subsection (f)(1) that 
such revision or update is necessary, any issuance of pre-
liminary maps for such revision or updating, or any other 
significant action relating to any such revision or update, 
the Director shall notify the Senators for each State af-
fected, and each Member of the House of Representatives 
for each congressional district affected, by such revision 
or update in writing of the action taken.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:18 Jun 18, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5559.IH
H5559
smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS