Urban Flooding Awareness Act of 2014 2014-09-17 Introduced in House Urban Flooding Awareness Act of 2014 - Directs the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to enter into an agreement with the National Research Council to conduct a study on urban flooding.

Defines "urban flooding" as the inundation of property in a built environment, particularly in more densely populated areas, caused by rain falling on increased amounts of impervious surface and overwhelming the capacity of drainage systems.

Directs the Council to evaluate the latest research, laws, regulations, policies, best practices, procedures, and institutional knowledge regarding urban flooding. Requires the Council's study to include an examination of:

  • the prevalence of and costs associated with urban flooding events across the United States, with a focus on the largest metropolitan areas and trends in frequency and severity over the past two decades;
  • the adequacy of federally provided flood risk information and the most cost-effective methods and products to characterize the risk of property damage from urban flooding on a property-by-property basis;
  • the potential for training and certifying local experts in flood risk characterization as a service to property purchasers and owners;
  • the causes of urban flooding and its apparent increase over the past 20 years;
  • the most cost-effective strategies, practices, and technologies used to reduce the impacts of urban flooding;
  • the role of the federal government and state governments in spurring market innovations based on public-private-nonprofit partnerships;
  • the most sustainable and effective methods for funding flood risk and flood damage reduction at all levels of government;
  • the relevance of the National Flood Insurance Program and Community Rating System to urban flooding areas outside traditional flood plains and strategies for broadening coverage and increasing participation under the Program; and
  • strategies for protecting downstream communities from the flooding impacts of development in upstream communities.
]]> text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.