[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3693 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3693

To clarify the application of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform 
  Act of 2012 to premium rates for certain properties, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 11, 2013

 Mr. Cassidy (for himself, Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. 
 Palazzo, Mr. Scalise, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, Mr. Ross, Mr. Johnson of 
Ohio, Mr. Nugent, Mr. Marino, Ms. Castor of Florida, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, 
   Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Crenshaw, and Mr. Southerland) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To clarify the application of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform 
  Act of 2012 to premium rates for certain properties, 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 ``Flood Insurance Relief and 
Transparency Act of 2013''.

SEC. 2. DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE FOR PREMIUM RATE INCREASES FOR 
              PROPERTIES SUBJECT TO MAP REVISIONS OR UPDATES.

    (a) Delay.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any change 
in risk premium rates for flood insurance under the National Flood 
Insurance Program otherwise resulting from the amendment made by 
section 100207 of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 
(Public Law 112-141; 126 Stat. 919) shall not take effect until March 
1, 2015.
    (b) Disclosure.--Not later than October 1, 2014, the Administrator 
of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall make publicly 
available all data affecting any changes in risk premium rates for 
flood insurance coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program 
resulting from the amendment made by section 100207 of the Biggert-
Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-141; 126 
Stat. 919).
    (c) Effective Date.--Subsection (a) shall take effect as if enacted 
as part of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 
(Public Law 112-141).

SEC. 3. AFFORDABILITY STUDY FUNDING.

    Section 100236(d) of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act 
of 2012 (Public Law 112-141; 126 Stat. 957) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``there'' and inserting ``amounts not 
        otherwise obligated from the National Flood Insurance Fund''; 
        and
            (2) by striking ``from the National Flood Insurance Fund, 
        of amounts not otherwise obligated, not more than $750,000''.

SEC. 4. MONTHLY INSTALLMENT PAYMENTS FOR PREMIUMS.

    Section 1308 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
4015) is amended by striking subsection (g) and inserting the following 
new subsection:
    ``(g) Conditions for Monthly Payments.--
            ``(1) Option.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
        with respect to any chargeable risk premiums for flood 
        insurance coverage under this title, the Administrator shall 
        provide policyholders with the option of paying such premiums 
        on an annual or monthly basis.
            ``(2) Eligibility.--A policyholder of flood insurance 
        coverage under this title shall be eligible to make monthly 
        payments of premiums only if all of the following conditions 
        are met:
                    ``(A) The policyholder does not have the option of 
                escrowing premiums and fees for flood insurance as 
                provided in section 102(d) of the Flood Disaster 
                Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4012a(d)).
                    ``(B) The policyholder agrees to permit payment of 
                the monthly premiums using electronic fund transfer or 
                automatic withdrawals from a checking account, savings 
                account, or credit card.
                    ``(C) Upon a covered loss occurring and a claim 
                being presented, the remaining premium owed for that 
                policy term shall be deducted in full from payments 
                made for that loss.
                    ``(D) The policyholder certifies that the 
                policyholder understands the payment terms and 
                consequences for nonpayment due to insufficient funds, 
                as provided under this subsection.
            ``(3) Monthly payments.--Upon the purchase or renewal of 
        flood insurance coverage and paying the premium on a monthly 
        basis, the policyholder shall pay no less than \1/12\ of the 
        total annual premium as the initial payment at time of 
        application or renewal, and then equal monthly payments for the 
        remaining 11 months of the policy, subject to paragraph (2)(C).
            ``(4) Additional premiums and administrative expenses.--The 
        Administrator shall charge the policyholder an administrative 
        fee to cover the operating and administrative expenses to 
        administer monthly premium payments, and the Administrator may 
        factor into the premiums to be paid by policyholders an 
        appropriate amount of premium to cover any increased risk that 
        may arise from allowing monthly installment payments.
            ``(5) Failure to make a payment.--Upon the purchase or 
        renewal of a flood insurance policy, the Administrator shall 
        provide the policyholder with a payment schedule identifying 
        the date the premium will be collected through electronic fund 
        transfer or automatic withdrawals from a checking account, 
        savings account, or credit card. If there are insufficient 
        funds to cover the monthly premium payment due on the date 
        specified in the schedule or the required payment is otherwise 
        not received--
                    ``(A) coverage under the National Flood Insurance 
                Program will immediately end effective the following 
                day at 12:01 a.m.; and
                    ``(B) the policyholder will no longer be eligible 
                to make premium payments on a monthly basis for an 
                appropriate period, as identified by the Administrator.
            ``(6) Implementation.--Notwithstanding section 1306 (42 
        U.S.C. 4013), not later than the expiration of the 1-year 
        period beginning on the date of enactment of this subsection, 
        the Administrator may issue an endorsement to the Residential 
        and General Standard Flood Insurance Policies to permit monthly 
        payments, cancellation of coverage for non-payment, and any 
        other terms necessary to implement this subsection.''.
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