[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 19, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19639-19640]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-05750]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY


2024 Report on the Effectiveness of the Terrorism Risk Insurance 
Program

AGENCY: Departmental Offices, U.S. Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, as amended (TRIA), 
established the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program (TRIP or Program). 
TRIA requires the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to submit a 
report to Congress by June 30, 2024 concerning, in general, the overall 
effectiveness of TRIP. To assist the Secretary in formulating the 
report, the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) within the Department of the 
Treasury (Treasury) is seeking comments from the insurance sector and 
other stakeholders on the statutory factors to be analyzed in the 
report, as well as feedback on other issues relating to the 
effectiveness of TRIP.

DATES: Submit comments on or before May 3, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments electronically through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov, in accordance with 
the instructions on that site, or by mail to the Federal Insurance 
Office, Attn: Richard Ifft, Room 1410 MT, Department of the Treasury, 
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20220. Because postal mail 
may be subject to processing delays, it is recommended that comments be 
submitted electronically. If submitting comments by mail, please submit 
an original version with two copies. Comments concerning the 2024 
report on the effectiveness of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program 
should be captioned with ``2024 TRIP Effectiveness Report.'' In 
general, Treasury will post all comments to www.regulations.gov without 
change, including any business or personal information provided such as 
names, addresses, email addresses, or telephone numbers. All comments, 
including attachments and other supporting materials, are part of the 
public record and subject to public disclosure. You should submit only 
information that you wish to make available publicly. Where 
appropriate, a comment should include a short Executive Summary (no 
more than five single-spaced pages).
    Additional Instructions. Responses should also include: (1) The 
data or rationale, including examples, supporting any opinions or 
conclusions; and (2) any specific legislative, administrative, or 
regulatory proposals for carrying out recommended approaches or 
options.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Ifft, Lead Management and 
Senior Insurance Policy Analyst, Terrorism Risk Insurance Program, 
(202) 622-2922, or Theodore Newman, Senior Insurance Regulatory Policy 
Analyst, Federal Insurance Office, (202) 622-1748. Persons who have 
difficulty hearing or speaking may access these numbers via TTY by 
calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    TRIA \1\ requires participating insurers to make insurance 
available for losses resulting from acts of terrorism and provides a 
federal government backstop for the insurers' resulting financial 
exposure. TRIA established TRIP within Treasury, and TRIP is 
administered by the Secretary with the assistance of FIO. TRIA Section 
104(h)(2) requires the Secretary to periodically prepare and submit a 
report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
Affairs of the Senate on, among other things, the impact and 
effectiveness of TRIP (Effectiveness Report). TRIA was reauthorized in 
December 2019 with an additional requirement that Treasury's 
Effectiveness Reports analyze the availability and affordability of 
terrorism risk insurance, including specifically for houses of worship. 
The Effectiveness Report to be submitted by June 30, 2024 will include 
an analysis of information that is being collected by Treasury through 
the 2024 TRIP Data Call,\2\ as well as data that Treasury collected in 
prior TRIP data calls. Treasury's data calls are conducted to obtain 
information to facilitate Treasury's analysis of the effectiveness of 
TRIP and the competitiveness of small insurers in the terrorism risk 
insurance marketplace,\3\ as well as to assist Treasury more generally 
in the administration of TRIP.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Public Law 107-297, 116 Stat. 2322, codified at 15 U.S.C. 
6701, note. Because the provisions of TRIA (as amended) appear in a 
note, instead of particular sections, of the United States Code, the 
provisions of TRIA are identified by the sections of the law.
    \2\ A notice announcing the commencement of the 2024 TRIP Data 
Call also appears in this issue of the Federal Register.
    \3\ TRIA sec. 108(h).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. Solicitation for Comments

    This request for comment will provide stakeholders the opportunity 
to provide qualitative feedback and analysis that may not be otherwise 
observable through the results of the TRIP data calls. Information and 
views of stakeholders on the factors listed above will assist Treasury 
in the formulation of the Effectiveness Report and provide a meaningful 
opportunity for stakeholder engagement. In addition, and more 
generally, such public input may assist the Secretary in the 
administration of TRIP.

Statutory Factors

    Treasury seeks comments on each of the following factors, which 
Treasury is required under TRIA Section 104(h)(2) to consider in the 
Effectiveness Report:
    1. The overall effectiveness of TRIP;
    2. The availability and affordability of terrorism risk insurance, 
including specifically for places of worship;
    3. Any changes or trends relating to the data Treasury collects in 
its annual TRIP data calls, and the implications of such observations 
with regard to the effectiveness of TRIP;
    4. Whether any aspects of TRIP have the effect of discouraging or 
impeding insurers from providing one or more lines of commercial 
property and casualty insurance coverage or coverage for acts of 
terrorism; and
    5. Any impact of TRIP on workers' compensation insurers in 
particular.
    In addition to seeking comments on the above factors outlined in 
Section 104(h)(2) of TRIA, Treasury understands that other issues and 
factors in the insurance market relating to terrorism risk insurance, 
other than those factors specified in TRIA, could have an impact on the 
effectiveness of the Program, as well as FIO's administration of TRIP. 
Treasury accordingly also seeks comments on the following topics:
Additional Topics
    1. Whether the lines of insurance currently subject to the Program 
properly identify those areas where TRIP is necessary to ensure the 
availability and affordability of terrorism risk insurance, or whether 
certain lines of insurance should either be deleted or added;
    2. The availability of terrorism risk insurance coverage for losses 
arising from nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological (NBCR) 
exposures, and the

[[Page 19640]]

availability of reinsurance or capital markets support for terrorism 
risk insurance for such exposures;
    3. Changes in the property, casualty, and reinsurance markets since 
the 2022 Program Effectiveness Report that may have affected the 
pricing, affordability, availability, and take up of terrorism risk 
insurance;
Cyber-Related Topics
    4. Terrorism risk insurance issues presented by cyber-related 
losses, and the potential response of TRIP in connection with such 
exposures, including your views on the type of cyber-related terrorism 
losses that may be included within TRIP and those losses that may not 
be covered by TRIP;
    5. Any potential changes to TRIA or TRIP that would encourage the 
take up of insurance for cyber-related losses arising from acts of 
terrorism as defined under TRIA, including, but not limited to the 
modification of the lines of insurance covered by TRIP and revisions to 
the current TRIP risk-sharing mechanisms for cyber-related losses, 
including how TRIP would respond to potential catastrophic cyber 
events;
    6. The availability of reinsurance or capital markets support for 
cyber-related losses arising from acts of terrorism as defined under 
TRIA;
Other Topics
    7. How captive insurers access TRIP, including the extent to which 
they provide coverage on a standalone versus embedded basis, or provide 
coverage for NBCR risks only;
    8. The current status of terrorism risk modeling capabilities, and 
the use of those techniques in the placement of terrorism risk 
insurance;
    9. Given the nature of terrorism risk, whether FIO should be 
seeking more granular information than state or metropolitan level 
information (such as ZIP code level or geocoded information) to assist 
in FIO's analysis of the terrorism risk insurance market and TRIP;
    10. How and whether developments in Artificial Intelligence 
technologies will affect terrorism insurance underwriting, marketing, 
claims management, and perils;
    11. In what ways, if any, small business clients face distinct 
challenges in the terrorism insurance market and whether small business 
have materially different exposures or take-up rates from the broader 
terrorism insurance market;
    12. Given that FIO now chairs the International Forum of Terrorism 
(Re)Insurance Pools, any issues that FIO should consider in its 
engagement with international entities or authorities providing support 
for terrorism risk insurance or reinsurance; and
    13. Any other issues relating to TRIP, terrorism risk insurance, or 
reinsurance that may be relevant to FIO's assessment of the 
effectiveness of TRIP in the report.

Steven E. Seitz,
Director, Federal Insurance Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-05750 Filed 3-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AK-P