[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 921 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 921
To authorize the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to
make grants to communities to be used for outreach efforts to encourage
participation in the national flood insurance program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 8, 2007
Ms. Matsui (for herself, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Ms. Norton, Mr.
Blumenauer, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. George Miller of California, and Mr.
Shimkus) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to
make grants to communities to be used for outreach efforts to encourage
participation in the national flood insurance program.
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 Community Outreach
Grant Program Act of 2007''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(1) Following the human suffering and devastation caused by
Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, the Federal Government and State
and local governments have responded to public concerns about
flood safety by increasing resources to improve flood
protection measures in communities throughout the United
States.
(2) In the year since these disasters, the Federal
Government has directed $7,000,000,000 in emergency
supplemental spending to restoring and strengthening hurricane
protection in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast as well as
$1,900,000,000 from the annual budget of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers for flood control and hurricane protection measures
across the Nation.
(3) While improving this infrastructure is essential to a
comprehensive approach to flood protection, communities must be
encouraged to better assess their flood risk and better inform
the public about the importance of maintaining flood insurance
protection.
(4) To reduce the flood risk to communities in the United
States, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) must be
solvent and more effective.
(5) To achieve these goals, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), which administers the NFIP, should
work with communities to communicate directly with the people
who live and work in the Nation's floodplains on issues
concerning flood risk and flood protection.
(6) More than 20,000 communities currently participate in
the NFIP and nearly all of these communities have properties
that are located in special flood hazard areas--areas in which
Federal law requires that property owners purchase flood
insurance coverage before they can obtain a mortgage loan from
a federally regulated lender.
(7) Despite this mandatory purchase requirement, a FEMA-
commissioned study by the RAND Corporation found that 20 to 25
percent of property owners in special flood hazard areas who
have a mortgage from a federally regulated lender and are
required to purchase flood insurance do not carry a policy.
(8) In the next few years, the number of communities that
participate in the NFIP will increase, as FEMA's flood map
modernization program reassesses the flood risk to communities
throughout the Nation.
(9) As the map modernization program brings new communities
under the flood insurance mandatory purchase requirement, FEMA
should partner with these communities to educate property
owners, business owners, and property renters about the nature
of the flood risk in their area and the importance of
maintaining flood insurance protection.
(10) In addition to improving public awareness of flood
risk and flood insurance, many communities that undertake
outreach activities can qualify for reduced flood insurance
premiums under the NFIP's community rating system program.
(11) Flood risk is not limited to properties that are
located in special flood hazard areas, and many properties that
are no longer subject to the mandatory purchase requirement
remain at risk of flooding, especially in areas that are
protected by levees.
(12) FEMA estimates that between 20 and 25 percent of all
claims paid by the NFIP are for claims on properties located
outside of these special flood hazard areas.
(13) Thus, a property's release from the Federal flood
insurance purchase requirement does not mean that the property
is no longer subject to risk of flooding.
(14) In communities where properties have been released
from this Federal requirement, outreach activities can help to
educate the public about the importance of voluntarily
maintaining flood insurance coverage, including the potential
availability of low-cost preferred risk policies.
(15) Many property owners who own a home or building that
is located in an area that is subject to moderate-to-low risk
of flooding are unaware that they may qualify for the low-cost,
preferred risk flood insurance--a product of the NFIP.
(16) By partnering with local flood control authorities,
FEMA can better promote flood safety and flood insurance and,
in communities with properties that are no longer subject to
the mandatory purchase requirement, retain a higher number of
NFIP policies.
(17) Reducing the number of uninsured property owners in
communities that are subject to flood risk will reduce the
fiscal effects of a flood disaster to both property owners and
the Federal Government.
(b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to establish a flood
insurance outreach and education grants program that provides resources
to communities for educating property owners and renters on flood
insurance options while strengthening the national flood insurance
program.
SEC. 3. FLOOD INSURANCE OUTREACH GRANTS.
Chapter I of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C.
4011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new
section:
``SEC. 1325. GRANTS FOR OUTREACH TO PROPERTY OWNERS AND RENTERS.
``(a) In General.--The Director may, to the extent amounts are made
available pursuant to subsection (h), make grants to local governmental
agencies responsible for floodplain management activities (including
such agencies of Indians tribes, as such term is defined in section 4
of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of
1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103)) in communities that participate in the national
flood insurance program under this title, for use by such agencies to
carry out outreach activities to encourage and facilitate the purchase
of flood insurance protection under this Act by owners and renters of
properties in such communities and to promote educational activities
that increase awareness of flood risk reduction.
``(b) Outreach Activities.--Amounts from a grant under this section
shall be used only for activities designed to--
``(1) identify owners and renters of properties in
communities that participate in the national flood insurance
program, including owners of residential and commercial
properties;
``(2) notify such owners and renters when their properties
become included in, or when they are excluded from, an area
having special flood hazards and the effect of such inclusion
or exclusion on the applicability of the mandatory flood
insurance purchase requirement under section 102 of the Flood
Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4012a) to such
properties;
``(3) educate such owners and renters regarding the flood
risk and reduction of this risk in their community, including
the continued flood risks to areas that are no longer subject
to the flood insurance mandatory purchase requirement;
``(4) educate such owners and renters regarding the
benefits and costs of maintaining or acquiring flood insurance,
including, where applicable, lower-cost preferred risk policies
under this title for such properties and the contents of such
properties; and
``(5) encouraging such owners and renters to maintain or
acquire such coverage.
``(c) Cost Sharing Requirement.--
``(1) In general.--In any fiscal year, the Director may not
provide a grant under this section to a local governmental
agency in an amount exceeding 3 times the amount that the
agency certifies, as the Director shall require, that the
agency will contribute from non-Federal funds to be used with
grant amounts only for carrying out activities described in
subsection (b).
``(2) Non-federal funds.--For purposes of this subsection,
the term `non-Federal funds' includes State or local government
agency amounts, in-kind contributions, any salary paid to staff
to carry out the eligible activities of the grant recipient,
the value of the time and services contributed by volunteers to
carry out such services (at a rate determined by the Director),
and the value of any donated material or building and the value
of any lease on a building.
``(d) Administrative Cost Limitation.--Notwithstanding subsection
(b), the Director may use not more than 5 percent of amounts made
available under subsection (g) to cover salaries, expenses, and other
administrative costs incurred by the Director in making grants and
provide assistance under this section.
``(e) Application and Selection.--
``(1) In general.--The Director shall provide for local
governmental agencies described in subsection (a) to submit
applications for grants under this section and for competitive
selection, based on criteria established by the Director, of
agencies submitting such applications to receive such grants.
``(2) Selection considerations.--In selecting applications
of local government agencies to receive grants under paragraph
(1), the Director shall consider--
``(A) the existence of a cooperative technical
partner agreement between the local governmental agency
and the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
``(B) the history of flood losses in the relevant
area that have occurred to properties, both inside and
outside the special flood hazards zones, which are not
covered by flood insurance coverage;
``(C) the estimated percentage of high-risk
properties located in the relevant area that are not
covered by flood insurance;
``(D) demonstrated success of the local
governmental agency in generating voluntary purchase of
flood insurance; and
``(E) demonstrated technical capacity of the local
governmental agency for outreach to individual property
owners.
``(f) Direct Outreach by FEMA.--In each fiscal year that amounts
for grants are made available pursuant to subsection (g), the Director
may use not more than 50 percent of such amounts to carry out, and to
enter into contracts with other entities to carry out, activities
described in subsection (b) in areas that the Director determines have
the most immediate need for such activities.
``(g) Reporting.--Each local government agency that receives a
grant under this section, and each entity that receives amounts
pursuant to subsection (f), shall submit a report to the Director, not
later than 12 months after such amounts are first received, which shall
include such information as the Director considers appropriate to
describe the activities conducted using such amounts and the effect of
such activities on the retention or acquisition of flood insurance
coverage.
``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated for grants under this section $50,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2008 through 2012.''.
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