[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2078 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2078

   To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to provide for 
   greater notification of flood insurance rate map changes and the 
 appeals process, extensions of the appeals process, reimbursement for 
    successful map change petitions outside of the standard appeals 
 process, and removal of certain properties from flood insurance rate 
                                 maps.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 1, 2011

 Mr. Loebsack introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to provide for 
   greater notification of flood insurance rate map changes and the 
 appeals process, extensions of the appeals process, reimbursement for 
    successful map change petitions outside of the standard appeals 
 process, and removal of certain properties from flood insurance rate 
                                 maps.

    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 ``Homeowners Flood Insurance Awareness 
Act''.

SEC. 2. TELEVISION AND RADIO ANNOUNCEMENT.

    (a) In General.--Section 1363 of the National Flood Insurance Act 
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting after 
        ``determinations'' the following: ``by notifying a prominent 
        local television and radio station, by notifying each Member of 
        the House of Representatives and each Senator that represents 
        any part of such community,''; and
            (2) in the first sentence of subsection (b), by inserting 
        before the period at the end the following: ``, shall publish 
        notice of the 90-day period for appeals referred to in the 
        second sentence, and shall notify a prominent local television 
        and radio station and the Members of the House of 
        Representatives and Senators referred to in subsection (a) at 
        least once during the same 10-day period''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to any flood elevation determination for any area in 
a community that has not, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, 
been issued a Letter of Final Determination for such determination 
under the flood insurance map modernization process.

SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF APPEAL PERIOD.

    (a) In General.--Section 1363(b) of the National Flood Insurance 
Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104(b)), as amended by section 1(a)(2), is 
further amended--
            (1) by striking ``(b) The Director'' and inserting ``(b)(1) 
        The Director''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(2) The Administrator shall grant an extension of the 90-day 
period for appeals referred to in paragraph (1) for 90 additional days 
if an affected community certifies to the Administrator, after the 
expiration of at least 60 days of such period, that the community--
            ``(A) believes there are property owners or lessees in the 
        community who are unaware of such period for appeals; and
            ``(B) will utilize the extension to notify property owners 
        or lessees who are affected by the proposed flood elevation 
        determinations of the period for appeals and the opportunity to 
        appeal the determinations proposed by the Administrator.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to any flood elevation determination for any area in 
a community that has not, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, 
been issued a Letter of Final Determination for such determination 
under the flood insurance map modernization process.

SEC. 4. REIMBURSEMENT FOR SUCCESSFUL MAP CHANGES OUTSIDE OF APPEAL 
              PROCESS.

    Section 1363(f) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 
U.S.C. 4104(f)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``or any other petition to dispute the 
        designation of a property as being located in an area with a 
        special flood hazard'' after ``subsection (b) or (c)''; and
            (2) by inserting ``or other petition'' after ``of an 
        appeal''.

SEC. 5. PERMANENT REMOVAL FROM FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP UNDER CERTAIN 
              CIRCUMSTANCES.

    Section 1363 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
4104), as amended by the preceding sections, is further amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(h) The Administrator shall annually revise each flood insurance 
rate map to permanently remove from each such map any property for 
which an owner or lessee of such property or a community is successful 
in a petition to remove the designation of such property as being 
located in an area with a special flood hazard and shall ensure that 
each such map indicates no history of such property being designated as 
located in an area with a special flood hazard.''.

SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

    The heading of section 1363 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104) is amended by striking ``appeals'' and inserting 
``appeals and other owner initiated map changes''.
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