InfoBytes Blog
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Releases Flood Insurance Bill
On July 17, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) released the text of the National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2017, which would reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and extend it another six years. Among the provisions covered in the bill are: (i) risk mitigation, particularly in repeatedly flooded communities; (ii) compliance cost increases; (iii) predisaster hazard mitigation programs; (iv) flood risk disclosure requirements for sellers or lessors of real estate; (v) flood mapping program improvements; and (vi) various program improvements, including requirements for federal banking regulators to conduct annual compliance studies on mandatory purchase requirements in special flood hazard areas, and directions for “FEMA to annually study NFIP participation in areas outside of special flood hazard areas.”
“We have held multiple hearings and worked on a bipartisan basis to hear thoughts and concerns from the Program's stakeholders, regulators and from Banking Committee members,” Crapo and Brown stated in a joint release. “This bill represents the many areas where we have found agreement, and we look forward to working with our colleagues to address outstanding issues.”
The bill is one of many introduced this year in both the Senate and the House as the NFIP is set to expire at the end of September. (See previous InfoBytes coverage here and here.)