[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4832 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 Representatives 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 carrying 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 activities under 
        this paragraph shall include--
                    ``(A) elevation, relocation (subject to subsection 
                (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 (including public 
                properties) located in areas having 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 
                approving 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 considers 
                appropriate and specifies in regulations.
    ``(d) Request for Assistance.--To be eligible to receive financial 
assistance under this section for mitigation activities, a State, 
community, or local flood management agency shall submit a request for 
assistance for mitigation 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 subsection (e) for approval; 
        and
            ``(5) any other information the Director may require.
    ``(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 management 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-effective; 
                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 mitigation activity 
involving acquisition of property or relocation of a structure shall be 
eligible to receive financial assistance 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 perpetuity for a use that is compatible 
with open space, recreational, or wetlands management practices.
    ``(g) Limitation on Amount of Assistance.--Except 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 
mitigation 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 receives the assistance certifies, as the 
Director shall require, 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 purchase. 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 Director 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 accept 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 
        establish, 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 pursuant 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 increase 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 develop and 
        periodically update a list of repetitive flood loss property 
        (including structures) which have sustained 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 collected from 
        payment of deductible and premium increases pursuant to this 
        subsection shall be deposited into the Repetitive Flood 
        Mitigation Loss Reduction 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 Reduction 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 appropriated 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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