Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)Floods are a coast-to-coast threat to the United States and its territories in all months of the year. Floods can cause significant loss of life, injury, destruction of property, and economic and social disruption. (2)The United States currently sustains several billion dollars in economic damages each year due to these flood impacts. Over the next few decades, the cost of flood related damage is anticipated to increase due to greater precipitation and sea level rise. (3)Improved flood impact reduction and resilience measures have the potential to reduce these losses through— (A)innovative design and construction methods and practices; (B)effective implementation and natural and nature-based features, floodplain management, and relocation from flood zones at the local, State, and national level; (C)improved data collection and analysis and impact prediction methodologies; and (D)public education and outreach. (4)There is an appropriate role for the Federal Government in supporting flood impact reduction and resilience. An effective Federal program in flood impact reduction and resilience will require interagency coordination, and input from individuals, academia, the private sector, and other interested non-Federal entities.

National Flood Impact Reduction and Resilience Program

(a)

Establishment

There is established the National Flood Impact Reduction and Resilience Program (hereafter referred to as the Program), the purpose of which is to achieve major measurable reductions in the losses of life and property from floods through a coordinated Federal effort, in cooperation with other levels of government, academia, and the private sector, aimed at improving the understanding of floods and their impacts and developing and encouraging the implementation of effective measures to reduce those impacts. (b)

Program activities

The activities of the Program shall be designed to— (1)develop effective measures for flood impact reduction and resilience; (2)promote the adoption of flood impact reduction and resilience measures by Federal, State, and local governments, national standards and model code organizations, architects and engineers, building owners, and others with a role in planning and constructing buildings, structures, and lifeline infrastructure through— (A)grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and technical assistance; (B)development of standards, guidelines, and voluntary consensus codes for floodplain management, natural and nature-based features, and flood impact reduction for buildings, structures, and lifeline infrastructure; (C)development and maintenance of a repository of information, including technical data, on flood risk, mitigation, natural and nature-based features, nonstructural alternatives, and community resilience; and (D)publishing a systematic set of maps of flood vulnerability, inundation, floodplains, current and historical flood events, hydrologic forecasts, and other flood related hazards; and (3)improve the understanding of floods and their effects on communities, buildings, structures, and lifeline infrastructure, through interdisciplinary research that involves engineering, natural sciences, and social, economic, and decisions sciences. (c)

Interagency Coordinating Committee on Flood Impact Reduction and Resilience

(1)

In general

There is established an Interagency Coordinating Committee on Flood Impact Reduction and Resilience chaired by the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers. (2)

Membership

In addition to the Chief, the committee shall be composed of— (A)heads or such designees of the— (i)Federal Emergency Management Agency; (ii)National Institute of Standards and Technology; (iii)United States Geological Survey; (iv)National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; (v)Office of Science and Technology Policy; and (vi)Office of Management and Budget; and (B)the head of any other Federal agency, or such designee, as the chair considers appropriate. (3)

Meetings

The Committee shall meet not less frequently than once each year at the call of the Chief. (4)

Duties

(A)

General duty

The Interagency Coordinating Committee shall oversee the planning, management, and coordination of the Program. (B)

Specific duties

The duties of the Interagency Coordinating Committee include the following: (i)Developing, and updating periodically a— (I)strategic plan that establishes goals and priorities for the Program; and (II)detailed management plan to implement such strategic plan. (ii)Developing a coordinated interagency budget for the Program that will ensure appropriate balance among Program activities, and in accordance with management plans, submitting such budget to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget at the time designated by the Director for agencies to submit biennial budgets. (iii)Developing interagency memorandums of understanding with any relevant Federal agencies on data sharing and resource commitment in the event of a flood disaster. (5)

Advisory Committee

(A)

In general

The Chief shall establish an Advisory Committee on Flood Impact Reduction and Resilience of at least 11 members, none of whom may be an employee (as defined in subparagraphs (A) through (F) of section 7342(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code), including representatives of research and academic institutions, industry standards development organizations, State and local government, and financial communities who are qualified to provide advice on flood impact reduction and represent all related scientific, architectural, and engineering disciplines. The recommendations of the Advisory Committee shall be considered by Federal agencies in implementing the Program. (B)

Assessment

The Advisory Committee shall assess— (i)trends and developments in the science and engineering of flood impact reduction and resilience, including for improving the forecast of flood risk; (ii)effectiveness of the Program in carrying out the Program activities; (iii)the need to revise the Program; and (iv)the management, coordination, implementation, and activities of the Program. (6)

Budget coordination

(A)

Guidance

the Interagency Coordinating Committee shall each year provide guidance to the other Program agencies concerning the preparation of requests for appropriations for activities related to the Program, and shall prepare, in conjunction with other program agencies, an annual Program budget to be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget. (B)

Reports

Each Program agency shall include with its annual request for appropriations submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a report that— (i)identifies each element of the proposed Program activities of the agency; (ii)specifies how each of these activities contributes to the Program; and (iii)states the portion of its request for appropriations allocated to each element of the Program.