[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3185 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3185

To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to provide insurance 
benefits for elevating structures incurring serious damage from floods 
  and increase the maximum coverage amounts under the national flood 
               insurance program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 29, 1993

  Mr. Talent introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
            Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to provide insurance 
benefits for elevating structures incurring serious damage from floods 
  and increase the maximum coverage amounts under the national flood 
               insurance program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Flood Insurance Reform and Relief 
Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON ELEVATION REQUIREMENTS FOR FLOOD-DAMAGED 
              STRUCTURES UNDER LAND MANAGEMENT AND USE CRITERIA.

    Section 1361 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
4102) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the 
criteria established under this section may require the adoption of a 
State or local measure that requires a structure sustaining damage 
caused by floods to be elevated to or above the level of the 100-year 
frequency flood only if the measure applies only to structures 
sustaining damage for which the cost of repairing the structure to its 
condition before such damage would equal or exceed 75 percent of the 
value of the structure before the damage occurred.''.

SEC. 3. MAXIMUM FLOOD INSURANCE COVERAGE AMOUNTS.

    (a) Maximum Coverage Amounts.--Section 1306(b) of the National 
Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4013(b)) is amended as follows:
            (1) Residential properties.--In paragraph (2), by striking 
        ``so as to enable'' and all that follows through the end of the 
        paragraph and inserting ``up to an amount (including the limits 
        specified in paragraph (1)(A)(i)) of $250,000 multiplied by the 
        number of dwelling units in the building;''.
            (2) Contents of residential properties.--In paragraph (3), 
        by striking ``so as to enable'' and all that follows through 
        the end of the paragraph and inserting ``up to an amount 
        (including the limits specified in paragraph (1)(A)(ii)) of 
        $100,000 for any single-family dwelling and $250,000 for any 
        residential structure containing more than one dwelling 
        unit;''.
            (3) Nonresidential properties.--By striking paragraph (4) 
        and inserting the following new paragraph:
            ``(4) in the case of any nonresidential property, including 
        churches, for which the risk premium rate is determined in 
        accordance with the provisions of section 1307(a)(1), 
        additional flood insurance in excess of the limits specified in 
        subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (1) shall be made 
        available to every insured upon renewal and every applicant for 
        insurance up to an amount (including the limits specified in 
        subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (1)) of $2,500,000 for 
        each structure and $1,000,000 for any contents related to each 
        structure; and''.
    (b) Elimination of Ceiling on Required Coverage Amount.--Section 
1306(b) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4013(b)) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ``; and'' at the end and 
        inserting a period; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (6).

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE OF FLOOD INSURANCE POLICIES.

    Section 1306 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
4013) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Effective Date of Flood Insurance Policies.--Notwithstanding 
any law, regulation, or provision of a contract for flood insurance 
coverage under this title relating to the time of the effectiveness of 
such contract, the Director shall provide that a new contract for flood 
insurance coverage (or any modification of a contract for flood 
insurance coverage) entered into on or after July 15, 1993, shall be 
considered to have taken effect upon the satisfactory completion of the 
application for such coverage, payment of any initial premiums owed, 
and the fulfillment of any other obligations for such coverage, but 
only if the insured under the contract demonstrates to the satisfaction 
of the Director that the insured would have entered into (or increased 
coverage under) a flood insurance contract under this title earlier 
than the time of such fulfillment of obligations but for erroneous 
information provided to such person by officers or employees of the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency.''.

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