[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10235 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10235
To require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
to carry out a pilot program to enhance the mapping of urban flooding
and associated property damage and the availability of that 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
November 21, 2024
Mr. Quigley introduced the following 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 require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
to carry out a pilot program to enhance the mapping of urban flooding
and associated property damage and the availability of that mapped data
to homeowners, businesses, 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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Flood Mapping Modernization and
Homeowner Empowerment Pilot Program Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. FLOOD MAPPING MODERNIZATION AND HOMEOWNER EMPOWERMENT PILOT
PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(2) Coastal.--The term ``coastal'' means, with respect to a
unit of general local government, that the unit borders a body
of water that--
(A) is more than 2,000 square miles in size; and
(B) is not a river.
(3) Pelagic.--The term ``pelagic'' means, with respect to a
unit of general local government, that--
(A) the unit is a coastal unit; and
(B) the body of water that the unit borders is--
(i) an ocean; or
(ii) a large, open body of water, including
a bay or a gulf, that empties into an ocean.
(4) Pilot program.--The term ``pilot program'' means the
pilot program carried out by the Administrator under this
section.
(5) Urban flooding.--The term ``urban flooding''--
(A) means the inundation, by water, of property in
a built environment, particularly in a densely
populated area, that--
(i) is caused by falling rain--
(I) collecting on an impervious
surface; or
(II) increasing the level of a body
of water that is located near that
built environment; and
(ii) overwhelms the capacity of drainage
systems in the built environment, such as storm
sewers;
(B) includes--
(i) a situation in which stormwater enters
a building through a window, door, or other
opening;
(ii) the backup of water through a sewer
pipe, shower, toilet, sink, or floor drain;
(iii) the seepage of water through a wall
or a floor;
(iv) the accumulation of water on property
or a public right-of-way; and
(v) the overflow from a body of water, such
as a river, lake, or ocean; and
(C) does not include flooding in an undeveloped or
agricultural area.
(6) Urbanized area.--The term ``urbanized area'' means an
area that has been defined and designated as an urbanized area
by the Bureau of the Census during the most recently completed
decennial census.
(b) Establishment.--The Administrator shall carry out a pilot
program to make grants to units of local government to--
(1) enhance the production of maps relating to urban
flooding and associated property damage; and
(2) increase the availability of the maps described in
paragraph (1) to homeowners, businesses, and units of local
government to enable those entities to minimize the risk of
urban flooding.
(c) Objectives.--Amounts from grants made under the pilot program
may be used only to carry out activities that meet the following
objectives:
(1) Developing a methodology for assessing the risk of
urban flooding through the deployment of technology-based
mapping tools that--
(A) are easily understandable by the public; and
(B) effectively convey information regarding the
level of flood risk.
(2) Providing structure-specific projections of annual
chance flood frequency.
(3) Providing structure-based flood risk assessments.
(4) Providing program design for the mitigation of the risk
of urban flooding.
(5) Incorporating information regarding climate trends into
urban flooding risk assessments.
(6) Making the information described in this subsection
publicly available on the internet through a web-based portal
so as to increase transparency regarding homeowner flood risks.
(d) Eligible Recipients.--
(1) In general.--A grant under the pilot program may be
made only to--
(A) a unit of general local government that is
located in an urbanized area with a population of more
than 50,000 individuals; or
(B) a stormwater management authority of a unit of
general local government described in subparagraph (A).
(2) One-time grants.--A grant under the pilot program may
not be made to--
(A) any unit of general local governmental, or the
stormwater management authority of a unit of general
local government, that previously received a grant
under the pilot program;
(B) any unit of general local government if the
stormwater management agency for that unit previously
received a grant under the pilot program; or
(C) any stormwater management agency of a unit of
general local government if that unit previously
received a grant under the pilot program.
(3) Treatment of certain stormwater management
authorities.--
(A) In general.--In the case of a stormwater
management authority that operates with respect to more
than 1 unit of general local government, the
application of that authority shall be considered for
purposes of paragraph (2) of this subsection and
subsections (f), (g), and (h)(1) to be made for the
largest unit of general local government with respect
to which that authority operates.
(B) Rule of construction.--Nothing in subparagraph
(A) may be construed to limit the ability of a
stormwater management authority described in that
subparagraph to carry out activities under a
demonstration project in any other jurisdiction in, or
with respect to any other unit of local government
with, which that authority operates.
(e) Applications.--To be eligible for a grant under the pilot
program, a unit of general local government or a stormwater management
agency shall submit to the Administrator an application in such form
and containing such information as the Administrator shall require.
(f) Selection of Recipients.--
(1) Annual selection.--Subject to paragraph (2), and to the
submission of approvable applications, in each fiscal year for
which amounts are made available for grants under the pilot
program, the Administrator shall select, from among
applications submitted under subsection (e) for that fiscal
year, 3 units of general government or stormwater management
authorities to receive grants under the pilot program.
(2) Aggregate limit.--Subject only to the submission of
approvable applications, the Administrator shall select, in the
aggregate over the entire duration of the pilot program, 12
units of general government or stormwater management
authorities to receive grants under the pilot program, as
follows:
(A) Tier 1.--Three of the applicants selected shall
be units of general local government, or stormwater
management authorities for those units, each of which
has a population of more than 800,000 individuals, as
follows:
(i) Pelagic coastal city.--One shall be--
(I) a unit of general local
government that is a pelagic unit; or
(II) a stormwater authority for a
unit described in subclause (I).
(ii) Non-pelagic coastal city.--One shall
be--
(I) a unit of general local
government that--
(aa) is a coastal unit; and
(bb) is not a pelagic unit;
or
(II) a stormwater authority for a
unit described in subclause (I).
(iii) Non-coastal city.--One shall be--
(I) a unit of general local
government that is not a coastal unit;
or
(II) a stormwater authority for a
unit described in subclause (I).
(B) Tier 2.--Six of the applicants selected shall
be units of general local government, or stormwater
management authorities for those units, each of which
has a population of more than 200,000 individuals and
not more than 800,000 individuals, as follows:
(i) Coastal cities.--Three shall be--
(I) units of general local
government that are coastal units; or
(II) stormwater management
authorities for units described in
subclause (I).
(ii) Non-coastal cities.--Three shall be--
(I) units of general local
government that are not coastal units;
or
(II) stormwater management
authorities for units described in
subclause (I).
(C) Tier 3.--Three of the applicants selected shall
be--
(i) units of general local government, each
of which has a population of more than 50,000
individuals and not more than 200,000
individuals; or
(ii) stormwater management authorities for
units described in clause (i).
(g) Priority.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator shall select applicants
for grants under the pilot program based on the extent to which
the applications of those applicants shall achieve the
objectives described in subsection (c).
(2) Tiers 2 and 3.--In selecting applicants to receive
grants under the pilot program under subparagraphs (B) and (C)
of subsection (f)(2), the Administrator shall give priority to
applicants--
(A) that are highly vulnerable to sea level rise;
(B) within which are located a military
installation or another facility relating to national
security concerns; or
(C) that have--
(i) populations that are highly vulnerable
to urban flooding; and
(ii) an uneven capacity for flood
mitigation and response efforts resulting from
socioeconomic factors.
(h) Amount.--
(1) Considerations.--In determining the amount of a grant
under the pilot program, the Administrator shall consider the
population of the grant recipient, which may be considered in
terms of the tier under subsection (f)(2) with respect to the
recipient.
(2) Federal share.--The amount of a grant under the pilot
program may not exceed 75 percent of the total cost incurred in
carrying out the activities described in subsection (c).
(i) Duration.--The Administrator shall require each recipient of a
grant under the pilot program to complete the activities described in
subsection (c), which shall be, subject to subsection (h)(2), carried
out using the grant amounts, not later than 18 months after the date on
which the recipient initially receives the grant amounts under the
pilot program.
(j) Use of Census Data.--The Administrator shall make all
determinations regarding population under the pilot program by using
data from the most recently completed decennial census by the Bureau of
the Census.
(k) Grantee Reports to FEMA.--Each recipient of a grant under the
pilot program shall, not later than 30 months after the date on which
the recipient initially receives the grant amounts, submit to the
Administrator a report that describes--
(1) the activities carried out with the grant amounts;
(2) how the activities carried out with the grant amounts
have met the objectives described in subsection (c);
(3) any lessons learned in carrying out the activities
described in paragraph (2); and
(4) any recommendations for future mapping modernization
efforts by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(l) Biennial Reports by FEMA.--Not later than 2 years after the
date of enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than once every
2 years thereafter until the date on which all activities carried out
with amounts from grants under the pilot program are completed, the
Administrator shall submit to Congress and make available to the public
on an internet website a report that--
(1) describes--
(A) the progress of the activities carried out with
amounts from those grants; and
(B) the effectiveness of technology-based mapping
tools used in carrying out the activities described in
subparagraph (A); and
(2) with respect to the final report that the Administrator
is required to submit under this subsection, includes
recommendations to Congress and the executive branch of the
Federal Government for implementing strategies, practices, and
technologies to mitigate the effects of urban flooding.
(m) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, because
the pilot program is limited with respect to scope and resources,
communities that participate in the pilot program should acknowledge
that the most successful efforts to mitigate the effects of urban
flooding--
(1) take a structural-based mitigation approach with
respect to construction, which includes--
(A) recognizing any post-storm damage that may
occur; and
(B) pursuing designs that proactively minimize
future flood damage;
(2) make individuals in the community aware, through any
cost-effective and available means of education, of the best
approaches regarding the construction of properties that are
able to survive floods, which reduces the cost of future
repairs; and
(3) encourage home and property owners to consider the
measures described in paragraphs (1) and (2), which are the
most cost-effective and prudent ways to reduce the impact of
flooding, when constructing or renovating building components.
(n) Funding.--There are authorized to be appropriated for grants
under the pilot program--
(1) $1,200,000 for fiscal year 2026; and
(2) $4,300,000 for fiscal year 2027, to remain available
through fiscal year 2029.
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