[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2021 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2021

                        To reduce flood losses.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 2001

   Mr. Kind (for himself, Mr. Leach, Mr. Luther, Mr. Gilchrest, Ms. 
   McCollum, Mr. Gutknecht, Mr. Evans, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Boswell, Mr. 
Hulshof, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Pomeroy, Mr. Petri, Ms. Hooley of Oregon, Mr. 
Etheridge, Mr. Blumenauer, and Mr. Barrett of Wisconsin) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
                           and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                        To reduce flood losses.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Flood Loss 
Reduction Act of 2001''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purposes.
Sec. 3. Flood loss reduction study.
Sec. 4. Flood mitigation.
Sec. 5. Hazard mitigation.
Sec. 6. Flood loss reduction prioritization.

 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Flood losses threaten the economic future of floodplain 
        communities.
            (2) Postflood hazard mitigation reduces flood losses, 
        improves water quality, provides opportunities for recreation, 
        and enhances wildlife habitat.
            (3) Federal efforts to reduce flood losses are poorly 
        coordinated.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are the following:
            (1) To develop a coordinated flood loss reduction strategy 
        for the Upper Mississippi River floodplain.
            (2) To expand efforts to relocate, elevate, and flood-proof 
        homes before and after disaster strikes.
            (3) To prioritize Federal efforts to reduce flood losses.

SEC. 3. FLOOD LOSS REDUCTION STUDY.

    (a) In General.--Section 459 of the Water Resources Development Act 
of 1999 (33 U.S.C. 652 note; 113 Stat. 332-333) is amended by striking 
subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the following:
    ``(a) Flood Loss Reduction Plan.--Not later than the last day of 
the 6-month period beginning on the date of enactment of the Flood Loss 
Reduction Act of 2001, the Secretary and the Director of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency shall collaboratively develop, in 
consultation with local and state interests, a plan to reduce flood 
losses in the Upper Mississippi River floodplain, including 
consideration of structural and nonstructural measures.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Such section is further amended by 
redesignating subsections (c), (d), and (e) as subsections (b), (c), 
and (d), respectively.

SEC. 4. FLOOD MITIGATION.

    (a) Funding.--Section 212(i)(1) of the Water Resources Development 
Act of 1999 (33 U.S.C. 2332(i)(1); 113 Stat. 291) is amended to read as 
follows:
            ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        $100,000,000 to carry out this section for fiscal years 2002 
        through 2010.''.
    (b) Priority Areas.--Section 212(e) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2332(e)) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (27);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (28) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(29) LaCrosse County, Wisconsin;
            ``(30) Crawford County, Wisconsin;
            ``(31) Buffalo County, Wisconsin;
            ``(32) Calhoun County, Illinois;
            ``(33) Saint Charles County, Missouri;
            ``(34) Saint Louis County, Missouri;
            ``(35) Dubuque County, Iowa;
            ``(36) Scott County, Iowa; and
            ``(37) Rock Island County, Illinois.''.

SEC. 5. HAZARD MITIGATION

    (a) Limitation on Total Amount of Federal Contributions.--Section 
404(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c(a)) is amended by striking ``15 percent 
of the estimated aggregate amount of grants to be made (less any 
associated administrative costs)'' and inserting ``25 percent of the 
estimated aggregate amount of grants to be made''.
    (b) Increased Federal Share.--Section 322(e)(1) of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5165(e)(1)) is amended by striking ``20 percent'' and inserting ``30 
percent.''

SEC. 6. FLOOD LOSS REDUCTION PRIORITIZATION

    The Secretary of the Army and the Director of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency shall develop and annually update, rank, and list 
authorized flood damage reduction and predisaster hazard mitigation 
projects according to the extent to which projects address repetitive 
loss structures, include nonstructural features, and restore natural 
rivers and floodplain and shall annually publish the list in the 
Federal Register.
                                 <all>