[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6614 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6614

    To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to allow the 
rebuilding of certain structures located in special flood hazard zones, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 29, 2012

  Ms. Matsui 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 allow the 
rebuilding of certain structures located in special flood hazard zones, 
                        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 ``Fire-Damaged Home Rebuilding Act of 
2012''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE AND LOCAL LAND USE CONTROLS.

    Subsection (a) of section 1315 of the National Flood Insurance Act 
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4022(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Variance for certain residential structures.--
                    ``(A) Requirement.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of this Act, after the expiration of the 3-
                month period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
                the Fire-Damaged Home Rebuilding Act of 2012, any land 
                use and control measures required to be adopted 
                pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not, for purposes of 
                such paragraph, be considered to be adequate or 
                consistent with the comprehensive criteria for land 
                management and use under section 1361 unless such 
                measures provide that, in the case of any residential 
                structure that is located in an area having special 
                flood hazards and is substantially damaged other than 
                as a result of a flood, a variance in accordance with 
                subparagraph (B) may be granted.
                    ``(B) Variance; considerations.--A variance in 
                accordance with this subparagraph is a variance from 
                compliance with such land use and control measures 
                that--
                            ``(i) allows for the repair and restoration 
                        of such structure to its predamaged condition 
                        on the original location of the structure 
                        without elevation of the structure, but only if 
                        the owner of such structure at the time of such 
                        damage repairs and restores such structure for 
                        the purpose of continued occupancy; and
                            ``(ii) may be granted only by the 
                        appropriate regional director of the Federal 
                        Emergency Management Agency, after taking into 
                        consideration--
                                    ``(I) whether granting such a 
                                variance would help avoid blight in the 
                                neighborhood in which the structure is 
                                located; and
                                    ``(II) whether denying such a 
                                variance would require the structure to 
                                be elevated in a manner such that the 
                                structure is inappropriate with respect 
                                to adjacent structures;
                                    ``(III) the history and frequency 
                                of flooding in the area in which the 
                                structure is located; and
                                    ``(IV) the cost to the homeowner of 
                                elevating the structure so that it is 
                                in compliance with such land use and 
                                control measures.''.

SEC. 3. PREMIUM RATES.

    Section 1308 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
4015) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(j) Premium Rates for Structures With Certain Variances.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the chargeable premium 
rate for coverage under this title for any residential structure 
provided a variance pursuant to section 1315(a)(3) shall, after repair 
and restoration of the structure pursuant to such variance, be the rate 
that otherwise would apply to such structure if the structure had not 
been substantially damaged and repaired and restored pursuant to such 
variance.''.
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