I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4832
To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to reduce losses from
repetitive flooding.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 14, 1998
Mr. BENTSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Banking and Financial Services
A BILL
To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to
reduce losses from repetitive flooding.
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 ‘‘Repetitive Flood Loss
Reduction Act of 1998’’.
SEC. 2. REPETITIVE FLOOD LOSS REDUCTION.
Chapter III of the National Flood Insurance Act of
1968 is amended by adding after section 1367 (42 U.S.C.
4104d) the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 1368. REPETITIVE FLOOD LOSS REDUCTION.
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Director shall carry out a
program to mitigate repetitive flood losses to property by
providing financial assistance to States, communities, and
local flood management agencies for planning and carry-
ing out activities designed to reduce expenditures from the
National Flood Insurance Fund for damages to properties
caused by repetitive flooding. Such financial assistance
shall be made available to States, communities, and local
flood management agencies in the form of grants under
this section for carrying out mitigation activities.
‘‘(b) PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE.—The Director shall
provide assistance under this section to the extent
amounts are available pursuant to appropriation Acts,
subject only to the absence of approvable requests for such
assistance.
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE MITIGATION ACTIVITIES.—
‘‘(1) USE OF AMOUNTS.—Assistance provided
under this section may be used only for mitigation
activities under paragraph (2) that are proposed in
a request for assistance under subsection (d) and
approved by the Director pursuant to subsection (e).
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Mitigation activi-
ties under this paragraph shall include—
‘‘(A) elevation, relocation (subject to sub-
section (f)), demolition, or floodproofing of
structures (including public structures) located
in areas having special flood hazards or other
areas of flood risk;
‘‘(B) subject to subsection (f), acquisition
by States and communities of properties (in-
cluding public properties) located in areas hav-
ing special flood hazards or other areas of flood
risk for public use, as the Director determines
is consistent with sound land management and
use in such areas;
‘‘(C) minor physical mitigation efforts that
do not duplicate the flood prevention activities
of other Federal agencies, States, communities,
or local flood management agencies and that
lessen the frequency or severity of flooding and
decrease predicted flood damages, which shall
not include major flood control projects such as
dikes, levees, seawalls, groins, and jetties unless
the Director specifically determines in approv-
ing a mitigation project that such projects are
the most cost-effective mitigation activities for
protecting the National Flood Insurance Fund;
‘‘(D) purchase of property in accordance
with subsection (h); and
‘‘(E) other activities that the Director con-
siders appropriate and specifies in regulations.
‘‘(d) REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE.—To be eligible to
receive financial assistance under this section for mitiga-
tion activities, a State, community, or local flood manage-
ment agency shall submit a request for assistance for miti-
gation activities that contains—
‘‘(1) a description of the property or community
that the activities will protect;
‘‘(2) a statement of the aggregate amount of
payments made under the flood insurance program
under this title pursuant to insurance claims for
such property or properties in such community;
‘‘(3) a description of the mitigation activities
for which the assistance is requested;
‘‘(4) information sufficient to demonstrate that
the activities are eligible under subsection (c)(2) for
assistance and meet the requirements under sub-
section (e) for approval; and
‘‘(5) any other information the Director may re-
quire.
‘‘(e) APPROVAL.—
‘‘(1) CRITERIA.—The Director may approve
only requests for mitigation activities that specify
mitigation activities that the Director determines—
‘‘(A) have been proposed by the State,
community, or local flood management agency
requesting assistance to reduce repetitive flood
losses pursuant to an evaluation and analysis
(by the State, community, or local flood man-
agement agency) of flood risk and multiple
flood claim properties;
‘‘(B) are likely to provide protection
against flood losses to structures covered by
contracts for flood insurance available under
this title;
‘‘(C) are cost-beneficial to the National
Flood Insurance Fund;
‘‘(D) are technically feasible and cost-effec-
tive; and
‘‘(E) are consistent with other criteria that
are established by the Director to carry out the
purposes of this section.
‘‘(2) TIME
FOR
APPROVAL
OR
REJECTION.—
The Director shall approve or reject an application
for assistance under this subsection not later than
30 days after receiving such application.
‘‘(f) DISPOSITION OF ACQUIRED PROPERTY.—A miti-
gation activity involving acquisition of property or reloca-
tion of a structure shall be eligible to receive financial as-
sistance under this section only if the applicant for the
assistance enters into an agreement with the Director that
provides assurances that any property acquired, accepted,
or from which a structure will be removed in accordance
with the activity will be dedicated and maintained in per-
petuity for a use that is compatible with open space, rec-
reational, or wetlands management practices.
‘‘(g) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—Ex-
cept as provided in subsection (h), the Director may not
provide financial assistance under this section in an
amount exceeding 75 percent of the total cost of the miti-
gation activities to be financed using such assistance. The
Director shall may not provide financial assistance under
this section for any mitigation activities unless the State,
community, or local flood management agency that re-
ceives the assistance certifies, as the Director shall re-
quire, that at least 25 percent of the total cost of such
activities will be provided from non-Federal sources.
‘‘(h) PURCHASE OF REPETITIVE SUBSTANTIAL LOSS
PROPERTIES.—
‘‘(1) OFFER TO PURCHASE.—Upon determining
that an insured property is a repetitive substantial
loss property, the Director shall offer to purchase
the property at a price equal to the fair market
value of the property (including structures) at the
time of the offer. Any such offer shall explicitly state
that the offer is contingent upon the availability of
amounts under subsections (k) and (l) for such pur-
chase. Any such offer shall be held open, and shall
not be revocable, during the period that the property
in covered by flood insurance coverage under this
title.
‘‘(2) ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER.—If an owner of
a repetitive substantial loss property accepts an offer
to purchase the property made under paragraph (1),
the Director shall purchase the property, if amounts
are available pursuant to subsections (k) and (l). If
any local flood management agency exists that has
jurisdiction with respect to the area in which the
property is located, the Director may request that
the State or local flood management agency, if any,
coordinate and carry out the purchase for the Direc-
tor under the terms of the offer.
‘‘(3) INCREASED PREMIUMS FOR REFUSAL OF
OFFER.—Notwithstanding section 1308, if the owner
of a repetitive substantial loss property does not ac-
cept an offer made by the Director pursuant to
paragraph (1) during the period after the offer is
made having such duration as the Director shall es-
tablish, thereafter the chargeable premium rate with
respect to the property shall be an amount equal to
150 percent of the chargeable rate for the property
at the time that the offer was made (as adjusted by
any other premium adjustments otherwise applicable
to the property), except as provided in paragraph
(5), and the deductible in connection with insurance
provided under this title shall increase by $5,000
more than the deductible on such insurance at the
time that such offer was made.
‘‘(4) NOTICE
OF
CONTINUED
OFFER.—Upon
each renewal or modification of any flood insurance
coverage under this title for a repetitive substantial
loss property, the Director shall notify the owner
that the offer made pursuant to paragraph (1) is
still open.
‘‘(5) INCREASED PREMIUMS UPON SUBSEQUENT
FLOOD DAMAGE.—Notwithstanding section 1308, if
the owner of a repetitive substantial loss property
does not accept an offer made by the Director pur-
suant to paragraph (1) and subsequently a flood
event causes substantial damage to the property
after such event, the chargeable premium rate with
respect to the property shall be an amount equal to
150 percent of the chargeable rate for the property
at the time of the event, as adjusted by any other
premium adjustments otherwise applicable to the
property and any subsequent increases pursuant to
this paragraph, and the deductible in connection
with insurance provided under this title shall in-
crease by $5,000 more than the deductible on such
insurance at the time of the event.
‘‘(6) PRIORITY.—The Director, in consultation
with regional flood plain administrators, shall de-
velop and periodically update a list of repetitive flood
loss property (including structures) which have sus-
tained multiple flood losses in excess of 125 percent
of the value of the property (or structures). Such
property shall be given priority for offers under
paragraph (1).
‘‘(7) DEPOSIT OF REVENUES.—All amounts col-
lected from payment of deductible and premium in-
creases pursuant to this subsection shall be depos-
ited into the Repetitive Flood Mitigation Loss Re-
duction Fund created by subsection (k).
‘‘(i) OVERSIGHT OF MITIGATION ACTIVITIES.—The
Director shall conduct oversight of recipients of financial
assistance under this section to ensure that the assistance
is used in compliance with approved mitigation activities
and that matching funds certified under subsection (g) are
used in accordance with such certification.
‘‘(j) RECAPTURE.—If the Director determines that a
State, community, or local flood management agency that
has received mitigation assistance under this section has
not carried out the mitigation activities as set forth in the
mitigation activity, the Director shall recapture such
amounts and deposit the amounts in the Repetitive Flood
Mitigation Loss Reduction Fund created by subsection
(k).
‘‘(k) REPETITIVE FLOOD MITIGATION LOSS REDUC-
TION FUND.—There is hereby created within the Treasury
a fund which shall be known as the ‘‘Repetitive Flood
Mitigation Loss Reduction Fund’’. Amounts deposited
into the Repetitive Flood Mitigation Loss Reduction Fund
shall be available to the Director to carry out this section
to the extent provided by appropriation Acts.
‘‘(l) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Director $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2000
to carry out this section, and such amounts shall remain
available until expended.’’.
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