[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 187 (Wednesday, November 15, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H9258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         FLOOD INSURANCE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania). The Chair 
recognizes the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to lend my support to the flood 
insurance reform legislation that we considered on this floor yesterday 
and passed.
  Let me tell you the reasons and the importance of that particular 
legislation. One is, the problems that it deals with is FEMA's flood 
plain maps can be inaccurate and are based on old technology. Property 
owners in the insurance flood plain plans are required to pay flood 
insurance premiums, even though they may not be at risk under the old 
maps whenever you look at it.
  For example, today I brought a map from my district--one of the 
places in my district where these maps are wrong. This is actually 
Carterville, Illinois. If you will notice, as the flood plain comes 
down here from the north, actually, that is really unique because, if 
you will notice right beside it, out of the flood plain is the creek 
that actually flows and the ditch that is the creek, and the flood 
plain is not in that. Yet it is over in the other area here, where it 
affects homes that are actually charged larger amounts of money on 
their flood insurance when they are not even in the flood plain. Yet it 
never even continues to flow on down to Crab Orchard Lake, where the 
natural water flow goes. So those areas are out of the flood plain, 
according to this mapping.
  The flood zone maps--here is the problem: property owners can 
challenge the map under existing law, before we sent this over, and you 
can challenge it, but it would cost you $2,000 to challenge that. Or if 
you wanted to participate with your city, the city taxes would then be 
charged $17,000 to challenge the map.
  Flood insurance is vitally important and necessary to the people 
around this Nation and the security that it gives to others that are 
not in flood plains for not having a cost dropped on them. But the 
accuracy of these maps are vitally important.
  Two things the legislation did that were vitally important, it is 
easier and more affordable to appeal FEMA about their maps and whether 
or not something is in a flood plain. It also uses its higher 
technology to truly draft the flood plain maps in a way that they are 
fair, and that the costs are not unbearable to many homeowners.

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