[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1297 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1297

  To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to reduce losses 
         caused by repetitive flooding, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 25, 1999

 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 
         caused by repetitive flooding, 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 ``Repetitive Flood Loss Reduction Act 
of 1999''.

SEC. 2. REPETITIVE FLOOD LOSS REDUCTION.

    Chapter III of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 is 
amended--
            (1) by amending section 1370(a)(2) (42 U.S.C. 4121(a)(2)) 
        to read as follows:
            ``(2) the terms `United States' (when used in a geographic 
        sense) and `State' mean the several States and the District of 
        Columbia;''; and
            (2) by adding after section 1367 (42 U.S.C. 4104d) the 
        following new section:

``SEC. 1368. REPETITIVE FLOOD LOSS REDUCTION.

    ``(a) Program.--The Director shall carry out a program to mitigate 
repetitive flood losses to structures--
            ``(1) by purchasing structures in accordance with 
        subsection (f); and
            ``(2) by making grants to States, communities, and local 
        flood management agencies for eligible mitigation activities 
        described in subsection (c) that the Director determines--
                    ``(A) have been proposed by the State, community, 
                or local flood management agency applying for the grant 
                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 structures;
                    ``(B) are likely to provide protection against 
                flood losses or substantially reduce damage to 
                structures covered by contracts for flood insurance 
                available under this title;
                    ``(C) are cost-effective 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.
    ``(b) Limitation on Grant Amounts.--The Director shall purchase 
structures and make grants under this section to the extent amounts are 
available pursuant to appropriation Acts, subject only to the absence 
of approvable applications for such grants or of willing sellers of 
appropriate structures.
    ``(c) Eligible Mitigation Activities.--A grant made under this 
section may be used only for eligible mitigation activities that are 
proposed in the application for the grant and that are described as 
follows:
            ``(1) Elevation, relocation, demolition, or floodproofing 
        of structures (including public structures) located in areas 
        having special flood hazards or other areas of flood risk.
            ``(2) 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.
            ``(3) Other mitigation activities that the Director 
        considers appropriate and specifies in regulations.
    ``(d) Application for Grant.--
            ``(1) In general.--To be eligible for a grant under this 
        section, a State, community, or local flood management agency 
        shall submit an application for such grant which contains--
                    ``(A) a description of the mitigation activities 
                for which the grant is requested;
                    ``(B) a description of the structures that the 
                mitigation activities will protect;
                    ``(C) a statement of the aggregate amount of 
                payments made under the flood insurance program under 
this title pursuant to insurance claims for structures described 
pursuant to subparagraph (C);
                    ``(D) information sufficient to demonstrate that 
                the mitigation activities are eligible under subsection 
                (c); and
                    ``(E) any other information the Director may 
                reasonably require.
            ``(2) Time for approval or rejection.--The Director shall 
        approve or reject an application for a grant under this 
        subsection not later than 30 days after receiving such 
        application.
    ``(e) Matching Requirement.--The Director shall not provide a grant 
under this section in an amount exceeding 75 percent of the total cost 
of the mitigation activities to be financed using such grant. The 
Director shall may not provide grants under this section for any 
mitigation activities unless the State, community, or local flood 
management agency that receives the grant certifies, as the Director 
shall require, that at least 25 percent of the total cost of such 
mitigation activities will be provided from non-Federal sources.
    ``(f) Purchase of Repetitive Substantial Flood Loss Structures.--
            ``(1) Offer to purchase.--Upon determining that an insured 
        structure is a repetitive substantial flood loss structure, the 
        Director shall offer to purchase the structure at a price not 
        greater than 125 percent of the fair market value of the 
        structure at the time of the offer. Any such offer shall 
        explicitly state that the offer is contingent upon the 
        availability of amounts under subsections (j) and (k) for such 
        purchase. Any such offer shall be held open, and shall not be 
        revocable, during the period that the structure is covered by 
        flood insurance under this title.
            ``(2) Acceptance of offer.--If an owner of a repetitive 
        substantial flood loss structure accepts an offer to purchase 
        the structure made under paragraph (1), the Director shall 
        purchase the structure, if amounts are available pursuant to 
        subsections (j) and (k). The Director may request that the 
        State or the a local flood management agency that has 
        jurisdiction with respect to the area in which the structure is 
        located 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 flood loss structure 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 structure shall be an amount equal to 150 
        percent of the chargeable rate for the structure at the time 
        that the offer was made (as adjusted by any other premium 
        adjustments otherwise applicable to the structure), 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 flood loss structure, 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 flood loss structure does not accept an offer made 
        by the Director pursuant to paragraph (1) and subsequently a 
        flood event causes substantial damage to the structure after 
        such event, the chargeable premium rate with respect to the 
        structure shall be an amount equal to 150 percent of the 
        chargeable rate for the structure at the time of the event, as 
        adjusted by any other premium adjustments otherwise applicable 
        to the structure 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) List of structures.--The Director, in consultation 
        with regional flood plain administrators, shall develop and 
        periodically update a list of repetitive substantial flood loss 
        structures.
            ``(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 Loss 
        Reduction Fund created by subsection (j).
    ``(g) Disposition of Acquired Structures.--
            ``(1) In general.--As soon as practicable after acquisition 
        of a structure under this section, the Director shall offer to 
        transfer the structure to the local flood management agency 
        that has jurisdiction with respect to the area in which the 
        structure is located. If such a local flood management agency 
does not exists or refuses such offer, the Director shall offer to 
transfer the structure to the State within whose boundaries such 
structure is located.
            ``(2) Terms and conditions.--If an offer to transfer a 
        structure made pursuant to paragraph (1) is accepted, the 
        Director shall make such transfer without compensation and upon 
        such other terms and conditions as the Director considers 
        necessary to protect the interests of the United States.
    ``(h) Oversight of Mitigation Activities.--The Director shall 
conduct oversight of recipients of grants under this section to ensure 
that the grant is used in compliance with approved mitigation 
activities and that matching funds certified under subsection (e) are 
used in accordance with such certification.
    ``(i) Recapture.--If the Director determines that a State, 
community, or local flood management agency that has received a grant 
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 Loss Reduction 
Fund created by subsection (j).
    ``(j) Repetitive Flood Loss Reduction Fund.--There is hereby 
created within the Treasury a fund which shall be known as the 
`Repetitive Flood Loss Reduction Fund'. Amounts deposited into the 
Repetitive Flood Loss Reduction Fund shall be available to the Director 
to carry out this section to the extent provided by appropriation Acts.
    ``(k) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--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.
            ``(2) Division of funds.--Of the amounts appropriated to 
        carry out this section, 90 percent shall be used for 
        acquisitions under subsection (a)(1) and 10 percent shall be 
        used for grants under subsection (a)(2).
    ``(l) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section, the following 
definitions apply:
            ``(1) Community.--The term `community' has the meaning 
        given that term in section 1366(k).
            ``(2) Repetitive substantial flood loss structure.--The 
        term `repetitive substantial flood loss structure' means a 
        structure covered by a contract for flood insurance under this 
        title that has incurred flood-related damage on 3 or more 
        occasions in which the cumulative cost of repairs is equal to 
        or greater than 125 percent of the fair market value of the 
        structure.''.
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