NFIP RISC Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2995 To require a report regarding the potential impacts of any changes to the risk-rating methodology for the National Flood Insurance Program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency before implementation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 4, 2021 Miss RICE of New York (for herself and Mr. GARBARINO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To require a report regarding the potential impacts of any changes to the risk-rating methodology for the National Flood Insurance Program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency before implementation, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Flood Insur- 4 ance Program Reporting on Impact to Seaboards and 5 Counties Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘NFIP RISC Act of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2995.IH H2995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2995 IH SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 1 The Congress finds that— 2 (1) 30 percent of the population of the United 3 States and 50 percent of the gross domestic product 4 of the United States is located on the Atlantic coast 5 or the Gulf of Mexico coast, areas frequently hit by 6 coastal storms and hurricanes; 7 (2) 90 percent of all natural disasters involve 8 flooding; 9 (3) all 50 States have experienced floods and 10 flash floods between 2015 and 2020; 11 (4) in most States, enrollment in the National 12 Flood Insurance Program has decreased between 15 13 and 35 percent since 2011; 14 (5) some of the poorest, most disenfranchised 15 populations live in floodplains because the land is 16 cheaper and moving out of such areas is not a fea- 17 sible solution; and 18 (6) such communities are significantly impacted 19 by floods and other extreme weather events and are 20 often less equipped to rebuild or relocate afterwards. 21 SEC. 3. REPORT ON IMPACTS OF CHANGES TO FLOOD IN- 22 SURANCE METHODOLOGY. 23 Not later than 6 months before implementing any 24 chargeable premium rate for flood insurance coverage pur- 25 suant to section 1308 of the National Flood Insurance Act 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2995.IH H2995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2995 IH of 1968 that is related to a change in flood-risk assess- 1 ment methodology, the Administrator of the Federal 2 Emergency Management Agency shall report on the 3 website of the Agency an analysis of the expected impacts 4 of such resulting new rates on— 5 (1) participation of communities in the National 6 Flood Insurance Program; 7 (2) chargeable premium rates for flood insur- 8 ance coverage under such Program and estimated 9 rates for such coverage pursuant to section 1307 of 10 the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 11 U.S.C. 4014); 12 (3) chargeable premiums for various categories 13 of properties, including properties paying less than 14 risk base rate and properties that are low income, 15 very low income, and extremely low income, as de- 16 fined by the Federal Emergency Management report 17 to the Congress entitled ‘‘An Affordability Frame- 18 work for the National Flood Insurance Program’’, 19 released April 17, 2018 (Release Number HQ-18- 20 035); 21 (4) National Flood Insurance Program policy- 22 holders, including annual premium increases and de- 23 creases; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2995.IH H2995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2995 IH (5) the extent to which the number of flood in- 1 surance claims on a property will influence the prop- 2 erty’s rating; 3 (6) the finances of the National Flood Insur- 4 ance Program; 5 (7) the community rating system and flood haz- 6 ard area mapping, including the funding for such 7 systems, public communications of any such 8 changes, and floodplain management procedures; 9 (8) flood mitigation programs, including 10 changes to flood mitigation grant programs resulting 11 from a change in rating methodology; 12 (9) replacement cost value, due to fluctuations 13 in premium prices; and 14 (10) the results and conclusions of the report 15 specified in paragraph (3) of this section. 16 SEC. 4. PANDEMIC PROTECTION. 17 The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Man- 18 agement Agency may not implement any changes to the 19 flood-risk assessment methodology for the National Flood 20 Insurance Program— 21 (1) during the effective period of the emergency 22 declared by the President on March 13, 2020, pur- 23 suant to section 501(b) of the Robert T. Stafford 24 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2995.IH H2995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2995 IH U.S.C. 5121(b)), relating to the Coronavirus Disease 1 2019 (COVID–19); or 2 (2) during the 6-month period that begins upon 3 the termination of such effective period. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2995.IH H2995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS