[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5255 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5255

  To reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 7, 2010

Mr. Frank of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. Kanjorski, Ms. Waters, and 
 Ms. Matsui) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To reauthorize 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 ``Stable Flood Insurance Authorization 
Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) since the enactment of National Flood Insurance Act of 
        1968, the National Flood Insurance Program has been the primary 
        source of reliable, reasonably priced flood insurance coverage 
        for millions of American homes and businesses;
            (2) today over 5,500,000 homes and businesses in the United 
        States rely on the National Flood Insurance Program to provide 
        a degree of financial security;
            (3) several years of below-average flood claims losses and 
        increased voluntary participation in the National Flood 
        Insurance Program have allowed the program to fully service the 
        debt incurred following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and allowed 
        the program to pay $598,000,000 of the principal of that 
        outstanding debt;
            (4) recent lapses in, and short-term reauthorizations of, 
        the National Flood Insurance Program's ability to write and 
        renew flood insurance coverage are estimated by the Federal 
        Emergency Management Agency and The National Realtors 
        Association to have adversely impacted or delayed up to 1,350 
        real estate closings per day;
            (5) though long-term authorization and significant reforms 
        are needed to further improve the financial outlook of the 
        National Flood Insurance Program, while such comprehensive 
        reforms are considered, reliable, annual authorization of the 
        program is an essential element to stabilizing the already 
        fragile United States housing market;
            (6) increased flooding in areas outside designated special 
        flood hazard areas prompted the Executive and the Congress in 
        2002 to begin calling for the National Flood Insurance Program 
        to develop and disseminate revised, updated flood insurance 
        rate maps that reflect the real risk of flooding for properties 
        not previously identified as being located with in a special 
        flood hazard area;
            (7) dissemination of accurate, up-to-date flood risk 
        information remains a primary goal of the National Flood 
        Insurance Program and such information should be disseminated 
        as soon as such information is collected and available; and
            (8) communities should be required to make their residents 
        aware of updated flood-risk data while communities are 
        assessing and incorporating updated flood-risk data into long-
        term community planning.

SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM.

    (a) Program Extension.--Section 1319 of the National Flood 
Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4026) is amended by striking 
``September 30, 2008'' and inserting ``September 30, 2010''.
    (b) Financing.--Section 1309(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 4016(a)) is 
amended by striking ``September 30, 2008'' and inserting ``September 
30, 2010''.
    (c) Extension of Pilot Program for Mitigation of Severe Repetitive 
Loss Properties.--Section 1361A of the National Flood Insurance Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 4102a) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (k)(1), by striking ``2005, 2006, 2007, 
        2008, and 2009'' and inserting ``2010''; and
            (2) by striking subsection (l).

SEC. 4. CONSIDERATION OF CONSTRUCTION, RECONSTRUCTION, AND IMPROVEMENT 
              OF FLOOD PROTECTION SYSTEMS IN DETERMINATION OF FLOOD 
              INSURANCE RATES.

    (a) In General.--Section 1307 of the National Flood Insurance Act 
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4014) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in the first sentence, by striking 
                ``construction of a flood protection system'' and 
                inserting ``construction, reconstruction, or 
                improvement of a flood protection system (without 
                respect to the level of Federal investment or 
                participation)''; and
                    (B) in the second sentence--
                            (i) by striking ``construction of a flood 
                        protection system'' and inserting 
                        ``construction, reconstruction, or improvement 
                        of a flood protection system''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``based on the present 
                        value of the completed system'' after ``has 
                        been expended''; and
            (2) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) in the first sentence in the matter preceding 
                paragraph (1), by inserting ``(without respect to the 
                level of Federal investment or participation)'' before 
                the period at the end;
                    (B) in the third sentence in the matter preceding 
                paragraph (1), by inserting ``, whether coastal or 
                riverine,'' after ``special flood hazard''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (1), by striking ``a Federal 
                agency in consultation with the local project sponsor'' 
                and inserting ``the entity or entities that own, 
                operate, maintain, or repair such system''.
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency shall promulgate regulations to carry out the 
amendments made by subsection (a). Section 5 may not be construed to 
annul, alter, affect, authorize any waiver of, or establish any 
exception to, the requirement under the preceding sentence.
    (c) Implementation.--The Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency shall implement this section and the amendments made 
by this section in a manner that will not materially weaken the 
financial position of the national flood insurance program or increase 
the risk of financial liability to Federal taxpayers.

SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH PREMIUM RATES BY NOTICE.

    Subsection (a) of section 1308 of the National Flood Insurance Act 
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015(a)) is amended, in the matter preceding 
paragraph (1), by inserting ``or notice'' after ``prescribe by 
regulation''.

SEC. 6. 3-YEAR DELAY IN EFFECTIVE DATE OF MANDATORY PURCHASE 
              REQUIREMENT FOR NEW FLOOD HAZARD AREAS.

    (a) In General.--Section 102 of the Flood Disaster Protection Act 
of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4012a) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsection:
    ``(i) Delayed Effective Date of Mandatory Purchase Requirement for 
New Flood Hazard Areas.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the case of any area that was not 
        previously designated as an area having special flood hazards 
        and that, pursuant to any issuance, revision, updating, or 
        other change in flood insurance maps that takes effect on or 
        after September 1, 2008, becomes designated as an area having 
        special flood hazards, if each State and local government 
        having jurisdiction over any portion of the geographic area has 
        complied with paragraph (2), such designation shall not take 
        effect for purposes of subsection (a), (b), or (e) of this 
        section, or section 202(a) of this Act, until the expiration of 
        the 3-year period beginning upon the date that such maps, as 
        issued, revised, update, or otherwise changed, become 
        effective.
            ``(2) Notice requirements.--A State or local government 
        shall be considered to have complied with this paragraph with 
        respect to any geographic area described in paragraph (1) only 
        if the State or local government has, before the effective date 
        of the issued, revised, updated, or changed maps, and in 
        accordance with such standards as shall be established by the 
        Director--
                    ``(A) developed an evacuation plan to be 
                implemented in the event of flooding in such portion of 
                the geographic area; and
                    ``(B) developed and implemented an outreach and 
                communication plan to advise occupants in such portion 
                of the geographic area of potential flood risks, the 
                opportunity to purchase flood insurance, and the 
                consequences of failure to purchase flood insurance.
            ``(3) Rule of construction.--Nothing in paragraph (1) may 
        be construed to affect the applicability of a designation of 
        any area as an area having special flood hazards for purposes 
        of the availability of flood insurance coverage, criteria for 
        land management and use, notification of flood hazards, 
        eligibility for mitigation assistance, or any other purpose or 
        provision not specifically referred to in paragraph (1).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The second sentence of subsection (h) of 
section 1360 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
4101(h)) is amended by striking ``Such'' and inserting ``Except for 
notice regarding a change described in section 102(i)(1) of the Flood 
Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4012a(i)(1)), such''.
    (c) No Refunds.--Nothing in this section or the amendments made by 
this section may be construed to authorize or require any payment or 
refund for flood insurance coverage purchased for any property that 
covered any period during which such coverage is not required for the 
property pursuant to the applicability of the amendment made by 
subsection (a).

SEC. 7. NOTIFICATION TO HOMEOWNERS REGARDING MANDATORY PURCHASE 
              REQUIREMENT APPLICABILITY AND RATE PHASE-INS.

    Section 201 of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 
4105) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(f) Annual Notification.--The Director, in consultation with 
affected communities, shall establish and carry out a plan to notify 
residents of areas having special flood hazards, on an annual basis--
            ``(1) that they reside in such an area;
            ``(2) of the geographical boundaries of such area;
            ``(3) of the provisions of section 102 requiring purchase 
        of flood insurance coverage for properties located in such an 
        area, including the date on which such provisions apply with 
        respect to such area, taking into consideration section 102(i); 
        and
            ``(4) of a general estimate of what similar homeowners in 
        similar areas typically pay for flood insurance coverage.''.
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