Flood Mapping Modernization and Homeowner Empowerment Pilot Program Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2462 To establish a pilot program to enhance the mapping of urban flooding and associated property damage and the availability of such mapped data to homeowners, businesses, and localities to help understand and mitigate the risk of such flooding, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 1, 2019 Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself and Mr. ROONEY of Florida) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a pilot program to enhance the mapping of urban flooding and associated property damage and the availability of such mapped data to homeowners, busi- nesses, and localities to help understand and mitigate the risk of such flooding, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2462.IH H2462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2462 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Flood Mapping Mod- 2 ernization and Homeowner Empowerment Pilot Program 3 Act of 2019’’. 4 SEC. 2. FLOOD MAPPING MODERNIZATION AND HOME- 5 OWNER EMPOWERMENT PILOT PROGRAM. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Federal 7 Emergency Management Agency shall carry out a pilot 8 program to make grants to units of local government to 9 enhance the mapping of urban flooding and associated 10 property damage and the availability of such mapped data 11 to homeowners, businesses, and units of local government 12 to enable them to minimize the risk of such flooding. 13 (b) OBJECTIVES.—Amounts from grants made under 14 the pilot program under this section may be used only to 15 carry out activities to meet the following objectives: 16 (1) To develop a methodology for assessing 17 urban flood risk through the deployment of tech- 18 nology-based mapping tools that are easily under- 19 standable by the public and effectively convey infor- 20 mation regarding the level of flood risk. 21 (2) To provide structure-specific projections of 22 annual chance flood frequency. 23 (3) To provide structure-based flood-risk assess- 24 ments. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2462.IH H2462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2462 IH (4) To provide urban flood-risk mitigation pro- 1 gram design. 2 (5) To incorporate information regarding cli- 3 mate trends into urban flooding risk assessments. 4 (6) To make the information described in this 5 subsection publicly available on the internet through 6 a web-based portal so as to increase transparency re- 7 garding homeowner flood risks. 8 (c) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Grants under the pilot pro- 10 gram under this section may be made only to units 11 of general local government located in a urbanized 12 areas, as such term is used by the Bureau of the 13 Census of the Department of Commerce, having 14 populations exceeding 50,000 or to stormwater man- 15 agement authorities of such units of general local 16 government. 17 (2) ONE-TIME GRANTS.—A grant under the 18 pilot program under this section may not be made 19 to— 20 (A) any unit of general local governmental, 21 or stormwater management authority of a unit 22 of general government, that has previously re- 23 ceived a grant under the pilot program; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2462.IH H2462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2462 IH (B) any unit of general local government if 1 the stormwater management agency for such 2 unit has previously received a grant under the 3 pilot program; or 4 (C) any stormwater management agency of 5 a unit of general local government if such unit 6 has previously received a grant under the pilot 7 program. 8 (3) TREATMENT OF STORMWATER MANAGE- 9 MENT AUTHORITIES.—In the case of a stormwater 10 management authority that operates with respect to 11 more than one unit of general local government, the 12 application of such authority shall be considered for 13 purposes of paragraph (2) of this subsection and 14 subsections (e), (f), and (g)(1) to be made for the 15 largest unit of general local government for which 16 such authority operates. The preceding sentence 17 shall not limit the ability of such authority to carry 18 out activities under the demonstration project in any 19 other jurisdictions or unit of local government with 20 respect to which the authority operates. 21 (d) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 22 this section a unit of general local government or stormwa- 23 ter management agency shall submit to the Administrator 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2462.IH H2462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2462 IH an application in such form and containing such informa- 1 tion as the Administrator shall require. 2 (e) SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS.— 3 (1) ANNUAL SELECTION.—Subject to para- 4 graph (2) and to the submission of approvable appli- 5 cations, in each fiscal year for which amounts are 6 made available for grants under the pilot program 7 under this section the Administrator shall select, 8 from among applications submitted under subsection 9 (d) for such fiscal year, 3 units of general govern- 10 ment or stormwater management authorities to re- 11 ceive grants under the pilot program under this sec- 12 tion. 13 (2) AGGREGATE LIMIT.—Subject only to the 14 submission of approvable applications, the Adminis- 15 trator shall select, in the aggregate over the entire 16 duration of the pilot program under this section, 12 17 units of general government or stormwater manage- 18 ment authorities to receive grants under the pilot 19 program, as follows: 20 (A) TIER 1.—Three of the applicants se- 21 lected shall be units of general local govern- 22 ment, or stormwater management authorities 23 for such units, having a population exceeding 24 800,000, as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2462.IH H2462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2462 IH (i) PELAGIC COASTAL CITY.—One 1 shall be a unit of general local government, 2 or stormwater authority for such a unit, 3 that is a pelagic unit. 4 (ii) NON-PELAGIC COASTAL CITY.— 5 One shall be unit of general local govern- 6 ment, or stormwater authority for such a 7 unit, that is a coastal unit, but not a pe- 8 lagic unit. 9 (iii) NON-COASTAL CITY.—One shall 10 be unit of general local government, or 11 stormwater authority for such a unit, that 12 is not a coastal unit. 13 (B) TIER 2.—Six of the applicants selected 14 shall be units of general local government, or 15 stormwater management authorities for such 16 units, having a population exceeding 200,000 17 but not exceeding 800,000, as follows: 18 (i) COASTAL CITIES.—Three shall be 19 units of general local government, or 20 stormwater management authorities for 21 such units, that are coastal units. 22 (ii) NON-COASTAL CITIES.—Three 23 shall be units of general local government, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2462.IH H2462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2462 IH or stormwater management authorities for 1 such units, that are not coastal units. 2 (C) TIER 3.—Three of the applicants se- 3 lected shall be units of general local govern- 4 ment, or stormwater management authorities 5 for such units, having a population exceeding 6 50,000 but not exceeding 200,000. 7 (f) PRIORITY.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall se- 9 lect applicants for grants under the pilot program 10 under this section based on the extent to which their 11 applications will achieve the objectives set forth in 12 subsection (b). 13 (2) TIERS 2 AND 3.—In selecting applicants to 14 receive grants under the pilot program under this 15 section pursuant to subparagraphs (B) and (C) of 16 subsection (e)(2), the Administrator shall give pri- 17 ority to applicants— 18 (A) that are highly vulnerable to sea level 19 rise; 20 (B) within which are located a military in- 21 stallation or other facility relating to national 22 security concerns; or 23 (C) that have a population that is highly 24 vulnerable to urban flooding and have an un- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2462.IH H2462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 2462 IH even capacity for flood mitigation and response 1 efforts resulting from socioeconomic factors. 2 (g) AMOUNT.— 3 (1) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining the 4 amount of grant under the pilot program under this 5 section, the Administrator shall consider the popu- 6 lation of the grant recipient, which may be consid- 7 ered in terms of the tier under subsection (e)(2) of 8 the recipient. 9 (2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The amount of a grant 10 under the pilot program under this section may not 11 exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the activities 12 under subsection (b) to be carried out using the 13 grant amounts. 14 (h) DURATION.—The Administrator shall require 15 each recipient of a grant under the pilot program under 16 this section to complete the activities under subsection (b) 17 to be carried out using the grant amounts before the expi- 18 ration of the 18-month period beginning upon the initial 19 receipt of grant amounts under the pilot program. 20 (i) USE OF CENSUS DATA.—The Administrator shall 21 make all determinations under the pilot program regard- 22 ing population using the most recent available data from 23 the decennial census. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2462.IH H2462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 2462 IH (j) GRANTEE REPORTS TO FEMA.—Each recipient 1 of a grant under the pilot program under this section 2 shall, not later than the expiration of the 30-month period 3 beginning upon the initial receipt of any such grant 4 amounts, submit to the Administrator a report that de- 5 scribes— 6 (1) the activities carried out with amounts from 7 the grant; 8 (2) how the activities carried out with such 9 grant amounts have met the objectives described in 10 subsection (b); and 11 (3) any lessons learned in carrying out such ac- 12 tivities and any recommendations for future map- 13 ping modernization efforts by the Federal Emer- 14 gency Management Agency. 15 (k) BIENNIAL REPORTS BY FEMA.—Not later than 16 the expiration of the 24-month period beginning on the 17 date of the enactment of this Act, and not later than the 18 expiration of each successive 24-month period thereafter 19 until the completion of all activities carried out with 20 amounts from grants under the pilot program under this 21 section, the Administrator shall submit to the Congress 22 and make available to the public on an internet website 23 a report that— 24 (1) describes— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2462.IH H2462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 2462 IH (A) the progress of the activities carried 1 out with amounts from such grants; and 2 (B) the effectiveness of technology-based 3 mapping tools used in carrying out the activi- 4 ties described in subparagraph (A); and 5 (2) with respect to the final report that the Ad- 6 ministrator is required to submit under this sub- 7 section, includes recommendations to the Congress 8 and the executive branch of the Federal Government 9 for implementing strategies, practices, and tech- 10 nologies to mitigate the effects of urban flooding. 11 (l) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 12 that, because the pilot program is limited with respect to 13 scope and resources, communities that participate in the 14 pilot program should acknowledge that the most successful 15 efforts to mitigate the effects of urban flooding— 16 (1) take a structural-based mitigation approach 17 with respect to construction, which includes— 18 (A) recognizing any post-storm damage 19 that may occur; and 20 (B) pursuing designs that proactively mini- 21 mize future flood damage; 22 (2) make individuals in the community aware, 23 through any cost-effective and available means of 24 education, of the best approaches regarding the con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2462.IH H2462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 2462 IH struction of properties that are able to survive 1 floods, which reduces the cost of future repairs; and 2 (3) encourage home and property owners to 3 consider the measures described in paragraphs (1) 4 and (2), which are the most cost-effective and pru- 5 dent ways to reduce the impact of flooding, when 6 constructing or renovating building components. 7 (m) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 8 following definitions shall apply: 9 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 10 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 11 Emergency Management Agency. 12 (2) COASTAL.—The term ‘‘coastal’’ means, with 13 respect to a unit of general local government, that 14 the unit borders a body of water that— 15 (A) exceeds 2,000 square miles in size; and 16 (B) is not a river. 17 (3) PELAGIC.—The term ‘‘pelagic’’ means, with 18 respect to a unit of general local government, that 19 the unit is a coastal unit and the body of water that 20 the unit borders is an ocean or other large, open 21 body of water (including bays and gulfs) that 22 empties into an ocean. 23 (4) URBAN FLOODING.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2462.IH H2462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 2462 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘urban flood- 1 ing’’ means the inundation of property in a 2 built environment, particularly in more densely 3 populated areas, caused either by falling rain 4 collecting on impervious surfaces or increasing 5 the levels of nearby water bodies and over- 6 whelming the capacity of drainage systems, 7 such as storm sewers, including— 8 (i) situations in which stormwater en- 9 ters buildings through windows, doors, or 10 other openings; 11 (ii) water backup through sewer pipes, 12 showers, toilets, sinks, and floor drains; 13 (iii) seepage through walls and floors; 14 (iv) the accumulati [Text truncated for display. 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