I 115th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2246 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 28, 2017 Mr. Luetkemeyer introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To repeal the mandatory flood insurance coverage requirement for commercial properties located in flood hazard areas and to provide for greater transfer of risk under the National Flood Insurance Program to private capital and reinsurance markets, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Taxpayer Exposure Mitigation Act of 2017 . 2. Opt-out of mandatory coverage requirement for commercial properties (a) Amendments to Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 The Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 is amended— (1) in section 3(a) ( 42 U.S.C. 4003(a) )— (A) in paragraph (7), by inserting residential before improved real estate ; and (B) in paragraph (8), by inserting residential before building ; and (2) in section 102 ( 42 U.S.C. 4012a )— (A) in subsection (b)— (i) in paragraph (1)(A)— (I) by inserting residential before improved real estate ; and (II) by inserting residential before building or mobile home ; (ii) in paragraph (2)— (I) by inserting residential before improved real estate ; and (II) by inserting residential before building or mobile home ; and (iii) in paragraph (3)— (I) in subparagraph (A), by inserting residential before improved real estate ; and (II) in the matter after and below subparagraph (B), by inserting residential before building or mobile home ; (B) in subsection (c)(3), by striking , in the case of any residential property, for any structure that is part of such property and inserting for any structure that is part of a residential property ; (C) in subsection (e)— (i) in paragraph (1)— (I) by inserting residential before improved real estate ; and (II) by inserting residential before building or mobile home each place such term appears; and (ii) in paragraph (5)— (I) in subparagraph (A)— (aa) by inserting residential before improved real estate each place such term appears; and (bb) by inserting residential before building or mobile home each place such term appears; (II) in subparagraph (B), by inserting residential before building or mobile home each place such term appears; and (III) in subparagraph (C), by inserting residential before building or mobile home ; and (D) in subsection (h)— (i) by inserting residential before improved real estate each place such term appears; and (ii) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting residential before building or mobile home . (b) Amendments to National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 is amended— (1) in section 1364(a) ( 42 U.S.C. 4104a(a) )— (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting residential before improved real estate ; (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting residential before improved real estate ; and (C) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting residential before building ; (2) in section 1365 ( 42 U.S.C. 4104b )— (A) in subsection (a)— (i) by inserting residential before improved real estate ; and (ii) by inserting residential before building ; (B) in subsection (b)(2)— (i) by inserting residential before building each place such term appears; and (ii) by inserting residential before improved real estate each place such term appears; (C) in subsection (d), by inserting residential before improved real estate each place such term appears; and (D) in subsection (e)— (i) by inserting residential before improved real estate ; and (ii) by inserting residential before building each place such term appears; and (3) in section 1370 ( 42 U.S.C. 4121 )— (A) in paragraph (8), by inserting residential before improved real estate ; and (B) in paragraph (10)— (i) by inserting residential after the opening quotation marks; and (ii) by inserting residential before building . (c) Rule of construction This section and the amendments made by this section may not be construed to prohibit the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency from offering flood insurance coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program for eligible non-residential properties or to prohibit the purchase of such coverage for such eligible properties. 3. Risk transfer requirement Subsection (e) of section 1345 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 ( 42 U.S.C. 4081(e) ) is amended— (1) by striking (e) Risk transfer ,—The Administrator and inserting the following: (e) Risk transfer (1) Authority The Administrator ; and (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (2) Required risk transfer coverage (A) Requirement Not later than the expiration of the 18-month period beginning upon the date of the enactment of this paragraph and at all times thereafter, the Administrator shall annually cede a portion of the risk of the flood insurance program under this title to the private reinsurance or capital markets, or any combination thereof, and at rates and terms that the Administrator determines to be reasonable and appropriate, in an amount that— (i) is sufficient to maintain the ability of the program to pay claims; and (ii) manages and limits the annual exposure of the flood insurance program to flood losses in accordance with the probable maximum loss target established for such year under subparagraph (B). (B) Probable maximum loss target The Administrator shall for each fiscal year, establish a probable maximum loss target for the national flood insurance program that shall be the maximum probable loss under the national flood insurance program that is expected to occur in such fiscal year. (C) Considerations In establishing the probable maximum loss target under subparagraph (B) for each fiscal year and carrying out subparagraph (A), the Administrator shall consider— (i) the probable maximum loss targets for other United States public natural catastrophe insurance programs, including as State wind pools and earthquake programs; (ii) the probable maximum loss targets of other risk management organizations, including the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; (iii) catastrophic, actuarial, and other appropriate data modeling results of the national flood insurance program portfolio; (iv) the availability of funds in the National Flood Insurance Fund established under section 1310 ( 42 U.S.C. 4017 ); (v) the availability of funds in the National Flood Insurance Reserve Fund established under section 1310A ( 42 U.S.C. 4017a ); (vi) the availability of borrowing authority under section 1309 ( 42 U.S.C. 4016 ); (vii) the ability of the Administrator to repay outstanding debt; (viii) amounts appropriated to the Administrator to carry out the national flood insurance program; (ix) reinsurance, capital markets, catastrophe bonds, collateralized reinsurance, resilience bonds, and other insurance-linked securities, and other risk transfer opportunities; and (x) any other factor the Administrator determines appropriate. (D) Multi-year contracts Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to prevent or prohibit the Administrator from complying with the requirement under subparagraph (A) regarding ceding risk through contracts having a duration longer than one year. . 4. Private or community flood maps Section 100215 of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 ( 42 U.S.C. 4101a ) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (m) Private or community flood maps (1) Standards and procedures In addition to the other duties of the Council under this section, not later than the expiration of the 12-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Council shall develop and establish a set of standards, guidelines, and procedures for— (A) State and local governments, federally or State recognized Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), federally or State recognized Councils of Local Governments, and federally or State recognized Rural Transportation Planning Organizations to use in mapping flood risks and developing alternative maps to the flood insurance rate maps developed by the Agency; and (B) certification, by the Administrator and within 90 days of submission, of such maps for use under the National Flood Insurance Program in the case of any area covered by a flood insurance rate map developed or approved by the Administrator which has not been updated or reissued for 36 months or longer. (2) Treatment Upon certification of a map pursuant to paragraph (1)(B), such map— (A) shall be considered the flood insurance rate map in effect for all purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, with respect to the area covered by the map; and (B) may not be revised, updated, or replaced pursuant to the standards, guidelines, and procedures established pursuant to paragraph (1) before the expiration of the 36-month period beginning upon such certification. (3) Exemption from rulemaking Until such time as the Administrator promulgates regulations implementing paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, the Administrator may adopt policies and procedures, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, necessary to implement such paragraphs without undergoing notice and comment rulemaking and without conducting regulatory analyses otherwise required by statute, regulation, or executive order. .