COMMITTEE ON RULES - SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS SUBMITTED TO H.R. 4973 - FLOOD INSURANCE REFORM AND MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2006

Summary of Amendment Submitted to the Rules Committee on
H.R. 4973 - FLOOD INSURANCE REFORM AND MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2006

(in alphabetical order)

SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS

(summaries derived from information provided by sponsors)

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Burton (IN)/Stark (CA)	#1	Codifies existing notification regulations and further requires written notification, by first-class mail, to each property owner affected by a proposed change in flood elevations, prior to the 90-day appeal period. Notification would include an explanation of the appeal process and contact information for responsible officials.
Cardoza (CA)	#19	(LATE) Requires that FEMA establish a community outreach program involving state and local agencies and states that the program must be in effect for no less than 150 days prior to releasing any new flood insurance rate maps. Requires FEMA to provide a list of criteria for meeting levee certification to the executive officer of any community containing a levee.
Cuellar (TX)	#24	(LATE) Requires that property owners who experience a change in their property's flood plain designation are notified in English as well as other widely-used languages if at least one-third of their community's population speaks another language.
Davis, Jo Ann (VA)	#6	Directs FEMA to utilize “a methodologically valid approach for sampling files selected for operational reviews and quality assurance claims reinspections.” A 2005 GAO study highlighted FEMA’s oversight failures, stating that, “FEMA cannot ... determine the overall accuracy of claims settled for specific flood events or assess the overall performance of insurance companies and their adjusters in fulfilling their responsibilities for the NFIP” (GAO-06-183T National Flood Insurance Program). Improves the oversight and accountability of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
Davis, Jo Ann (VA)	#7	Extends the proof of loss filing deadline to 180 days and would prohibit NFIP from denying claims solely for failing to meet the deadline and makes this change retroactive to September 18, 2003.
Garrett (NJ)	#5	Requires any purchaser of a pre-FIRM primary residential home to pay phased-in actuarial flood insurance prices using the same phase-in structure that non-residential and non-primary homes are currently subject to in the legislation, after the enactment of the bill.
Green, Gene (TX)	#12	Provides a 50% discount in NFIP premiums to homeowners with primary residences valued at $100,000 or less for the first 5 years that they are required to purchase flood insurance as a result of a new flood insurance rate map that includes them in a special flood hazard area for the first time.
Hinojosa (TX)	#21	(LATE) Strikes the provision in the bill that calls for the mapping of 500 year flood plains.
Jackson-Lee (TX)	#9	Adds a provision into the GAO study on the status of the national flood insurance program for certain pre-FIRM properties that seeks to identify any inconsistencies in eligibility standards for pre-FIRM coverage.
Jindal (LA)	#23	(LATE) Clarifies that “demolish and rebuild” should be a mitigation option available under the regular Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program. The "demolish and rebuild" option is specifically allowed under the Severe Repetitive Loss Program created by the 2004 reform act and FEMA has interpreted the difference to mean it cannot approve the measure under FMA.
Johnson, Eddie Bernice (TX)	#10	Creates a program to educate communities about the update to the flood insurance program rate map.
Matsui (CA)	#17	Amends Section 16 of the bill to ensure that, when practical, FEMA utilizes emerging weather forecasting technologies in updating its flood maps. This will ensure that FEMA has the highest quality information when it works to determine the level of risk for vulnerable geographies. Would not impose any additional financial mandates on the NFIP. Would make sure the program has the best information possible, while emphasizing the importance of this emerging technology.
Matsui (CA)/Hinojosa (TX)/Green, Gene (TX)	#18	Directs GAO to conduct a study on potential methods, practices and incentives that would increase the degree to which low-income property owners living in high-risk locations participate in the national flood insurance program. This study should be reported to Congress no later than 1 year after enactment of this legislation.
Matsui (CA)	#22	Proposes a grant program that would serve to educate property owners of their risk to flood in a way that would increase participation and retention in the NFIP, while benefiting the NFIP’s bottom line. Creates a competitive grant program for local floodplain managers to partner with the Federal government to conduct outreach and educate homeowners in high risk flood areas that have been released from the Federal flood insurance requirement. These grants could also be used to inform renters and small business owners of the content coverage available under NFIP, further increasing awareness participation in the NFIP. Would not impose an additional financial burden on the NFIP.
Miller, Candice (MI)	#14	Instructs the Director of the National Flood Insurance Program, upon the completion of the study by the International Joint Committee of the Upper Great Lakes, to request the Army Corps of Engineers to complete a new flood map for the region to help the NFIP develop 100 year and 500 year flood plains. Also prohibits flood evaluations in the upper Great Lakes to be increased until the aforementioned is completed.
Miller, Candice (MI)	#15	REVISED. States that the base flood elevation in the upper Great Lakes cannot be increased without the completion of a study to identify the 100 and 500 year flood plains in the region. There is no codified study to accompany this prohibition.
Miller, Candice (MI)	#16	REVISED. Prohibits the increase of base flood elevations in any of the counties in Michigan's 10th Congressional District until a study is completed to identify the 100 and 500 year flood plains.
Oxley (OH)/Baker (LA)	#11	Manager's Amendment. Contains a number of technical and conforming changes, including: clarification that the provisions governing the phasing-in of actuarial rates for nonresidential and non-primary residence properties will apply on the date on which the director of FEMA submits a required report to Congress, as opposed to the date of this legislation’s enactment; clarification that the $1 million cap on penalties for non-enforcement of mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements will not apply to a regulated institution or enterprise, for a calendar year, if in any 3 of the past 5 calendar years that institution or enterprise was assessed a penalty of $1 million; clarifications regarding the requirements for states to request FEMA participation in state-run disaster claims mediation programs and certain other provisions of the bill related to the claims mediation process; clarification of the timeline for FEMA’s inclusion of certain features on updated floodplain maps; and clarification of the FEMA Director’s authority regarding his ability to issue interim post-disaster flood elevation building requirements.
Pearce (NM)	#4	Immediately ends all flood insurance subsidies on nonresidential, vacation, and second homes.
Pickering (MS)	#13	Corrects an inequity in current law by exempting all purchases or transfers of property by any means, and not just purchases via a loan as under current law, from the 30-day waiting period for purposes of flood insurance coverage.
Rohrabacher (CA)	#2	Provides that, in a case in which a Federally funded flood control project causes an area to become at greater risk of flooding than it otherwise would have been, residents in that area shall be provided flood insurance using the price formula that would have applies had the offending flood control project not been built, or if no flood insurance would otherwise have been required, they shall be provided flood insurance at no cost. The determination of this status would be made by the Director of the National Flood Insurance Program.
Ruppersberger (MD)	#8	Requires the FEMA Director to issue regulations and revise materials that are provided to policy holders using “plain language” and “easy to understand terms and concepts.”
Taylor, Gene (MS)	#3	Instructs the Inspector General of DHS to conduct an investigation of the Hurricane Katrina damage claims adjusted by the insurance companies that contract with the National Flood Insurance Program under the “Write-Your-Own” program to determine whether, and to what extent, the companies improperly assigned damages to flooding covered by NFIP that should have been paid by the windstorm coverage provided by the insurance companies. The Inspector General would be required to report the findings to Congress no later than six months after enactment.
Weiner (NY)	#20	(LATE) REVISED. Requires that any private insurer that participates in the National Flood Insurance program must report any change in their guidelines for writing insurance policies for property owners, including but not limited to homeowners and wind insurance, to the FEMA Director 60 days prior to making such a change. FEMA would then be required to post this information on their website.