Selected Provisions of Various National Flood Insurance Reform Proposals H.R. 960, The Flood Victim Premium Relief Act of 2013 http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr960ih/pdf/BILLS-113hr960ih.pdf This bill would amend the NFIA of 1968 to limit premium rate increases on specified residential properties in federally declared major disaster areas. On such properties, it would require Biggert-Waters-imposed premium rate increases or new premium rates to be phased in over an eight-year period, at a rate of five percent for each of the first four years and 20 percent for each of the last four years. It defines applicable properties as those located within a major disaster area: (1) for which revised or updated flood maps became effective during a 2-year period beginning when the disaster occurred; or (2) that, upon enactment of this bill, are eligible for preferred risk rate method premiums for flood insurance coverage, or that were eligible for them at any time during the 12-month period immediately preceding the relevant disaster. It also requires such a property to be: (1) owned by the same owner who owned the property at the time of the disaster; and (2) the owner’s primary residence since the disaster (except for any non-occupancy resulting from it). This bill was introduced on March 5, 2013 and was immediately referred to the House Financial Services Committee; it has seen no action since. H.R. 968, The Fire Damaged Home Rebuilding Act of 2013 http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr968ih/pdf/BILLS-113hr968ih.pdf This bill would amend the NFIA of 1968 to allow local variances for certain residential structures located in special flood hazard areas (SFHAs) and substantially damaged by fire. Specifically, it would prohibit certain land use and control measures from being deemed inadequate or inconsistent with land management criteria for participation in the NFIP because such measures authorize granting a variance for such structures. It would also prohibit the administrator of FEMA from suspending a community from participation in the NFIP or placing said community on probation based on a perceived failure of a community structure, eligible for variance pursuant to this bill, to abide by the NFIP participation criteria. The bill defines acceptable variances as those granted by an appropriate community official permitting noncompliance with certain land use and control measures and permitting repair and restoration of a covered structure to its pre-damaged condition, without requiring the elevation of the structure. It also requires the official to have made specified determinations as a prerequisite to granting such a variance and requires chargeable flood insurance premium rates for a residential structure granted such a variance to equal, after repair and restoration, the rates that would have applied if the structure had not been substantially damaged, repaired, and restored in accordance with the variance. This bill was introduced on March 5, 2013 and was immediately referred to the House Financial Services Committee; it has seen no action since. 2
2013 Summer Summit Materials | American Academy of Actuaries