[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 164 (Friday, October 26, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13490-S13491]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Lott, and Mr. Cochran):
  S. 2251. A bill ensure that individual homeowners that were not 
previously required to purchase flood insurance that are now required 
to do so because of the updating of flood insurance program rate maps 
receive a discount for the purchase of such insurance; to the Committee 
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of myself and 
Senators Lott and Cochran to introduce legislation that will help make 
flood insurance more affordable for working families across the 
country.
  This bill makes a substantial change to the National Flood Insurance 
Program by reducing flood insurance premiums for those living near 
recently decertified levees.
  This is critical in California and the Gulf States, where several 
levees no longer meet national certification standards.
  Here is how the bill works: If a national flood map update results in 
the decertification of a levee, those living nearby will be required to 
purchase flood insurance. This legislation makes those now required to 
pay flood insurance eligible for a 50 percent discount on premiums for 
5 years. Levee decertification will force some homeowners to pay 
upwards of $1,000 per year for new flood insurance policies from the 
National Flood Insurance Program; according to FEMA premium estimates 
for high-risk residential areas.

[[Page S13491]]

  This bill will save most families in a newly zoned high-risk 
residential area more than $500 each year, or roughly $40 each month.
  The goal of the 5-year reprieve is to give the responsible agencies 
time to bring the levees up to standard.
  When the levees are strong again, the homeowners will no longer be 
required to purchase flood insurance. The financial burden would be 
lifted.
  This grace period helps those who need it most and softens the harsh 
and expensive consequences that accompany FEMA's Map Modification 
process.
  Additionally, the 5-year limit allows this legislation to accomplish 
these objectives in a manner that is fiscally responsible.
  Our colleagues in the House recently passed legislation H.R. 3121, 
that seeks to ensure the continued viability of the National Flood 
Insurance Program.
  My colleague in the House of Representatives, Congressman Dennis 
Cardoza, authored an amendment similar to this legislation, which 
passed by voice vote and is now included in the House's proposed 
changes.
  The House bill encourages broader participation, increases financial 
accountability, and eliminates unnecessary rate subsidies.
  Additionally, the bill makes the updating and modernization of flood 
maps a priority, and requires a thorough review of the Nation's flood 
protection systems.
  Under the new requirements, FEMA will work in conjunction with the 
Army Corps of Engineers and local communities to inventory their flood 
control systems and reassess their levels of protection.
  However, as FEMA remaps and reexamines flood threats, many households 
will find that they are no longer as safe as they thought.
  In California alone there are more than 136 communities that contain 
at least one levee that will be impacted by the deaccreditation 
process.
  These communities contain levees that will be, or may have already 
been, remapped and decertified for not providing protection from the 1 
percent annual chance flood.
  Many of the families in these impacted communities have lived in 
their homes for years, and believed that the levees in their backyards 
protected them from the threat of dangerous and costly flooding.
  As a result of the changing risk, homeowners who were previously 
exempt from mandatory flood insurance may now be required to purchase 
flood insurance.
  That is why I believe this bill is necessary. The Homeowners Flood 
Insurance Protection Act lightens this burden.
  For nearly 40 years, the National Flood Insurance Program has been 
instrumental in making flood insurance readily available to all 
Americans: Communities have partnered with the Federal Government to 
adopt and enforce floodplain management and, in turn, receive 
federally-backed insurance policies; and through the development of 
effective floodplain management strategies, millions of families have 
been protected from flooding and saved from the devastating costs 
associated with flood damage.
  But today, the program is in danger.
  After the record-breaking losses of nearly $20 billion suffered as a 
result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, it is clear that the 
program needs to be updated.
  This expansive project will allow communities to formulate 
responsible floodplain development plans and prepare for catastrophic 
flooding. The project will also ensure that the National Flood 
Insurance Program charges fair rates for their flood insurance 
premiums.
  Now, I support the National Flood Insurance program and recognize the 
importance of mandatory purchase requirements.
  The problem is that homeowners who have paid their taxes and helped 
to pay for the upkeep of these levees, will now find themselves forced 
to pay an additional insurance premium because of a failing levee.
  Many of these individuals in my State and across the country are low-
income earners and this increasing burden threatens to break the bank.
  Coupled with rising energy, health care and home mortgage costs, the 
unexpected additional expense of flood insurance may be too much for 
some families.
  That is why we need to offer this assistance.
  We must act soon to overhaul our Nation's flood insurance program.
  However, it is also our responsibility to mitigate the impact of the 
levee decertification process on thousands of unsuspecting families 
across the country.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2251

       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 ``Homeowner's Flood Insurance 
     Protection Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. 5-YEAR DISCOUNT OF FLOOD INSURANCE RATES FOR FORMERLY 
                   PROTECTED AREAS.

       Section 1308 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 
     (42 U.S.C. 4015) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (c), by inserting ``and subsection (g)'' 
     before the first comma; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(g) 5-Year Discount of Flood Insurance Rates for Formerly 
     Protected Areas.--
       ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law relating to chargeable risk premium rates for flood 
     insurance coverage under this title, in the case of any area 
     that previously was not designated as an area having special 
     flood hazards because the area was protected by a flood 
     protection system and that, pursuant to any updating, 
     reviewing, or remapping of flood insurance program rate maps 
     under this Act or any other subsequent Act, becomes 
     designated as such an area as a result of the decertification 
     of such flood protection system, during the 5-year period 
     that begins upon the initial such designation of the area, 
     the chargeable premium rate for flood insurance under this 
     title with respect to any property that prior to the date of 
     enactment of the Homeowner's Flood Insurance Protection Act 
     of 2007 was located within such area shall be equal to 50 
     percent of the chargeable risk premium rate otherwise 
     applicable under this title to the property.
       ``(2) Rule of construction.--For purposes of paragraph (1), 
     any new property or structure developed, constructed, or 
     otherwise built after the date of enactment of the 
     Homeowner's Flood Insurance Protection Act of 2007 on any 
     property described in such paragraph shall not be eligible 
     for the chargeable premium rate discount under such 
     paragraph.''.

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