[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1308 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1308
To allow communities to develop alternative flood insurance rate maps,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 1, 2023
Mr. Luetkemeyer introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To allow communities to develop alternative flood insurance rate maps,
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 ``Community Mapping Act''.
SEC. 2. COMMUNITY FLOOD MAPS.
(a) Technical Mapping Advisory Council.--Section 100215 of the
Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (42 U.S.C. 4101a) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (c)--
(A) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph
(9); and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following
new paragraphs:
``(6) recommend to the Administrator methods or actions to
make the flood mapping processes more efficient;
``(7) recommend to the Administrator methods or actions to
minimize any cost, data, and paperwork requirements of the
flood mapping processes;
``(8) assist communities, and in particular smaller
communities, in locating the resources required to participate
in the development of flood elevations and flood hazard area
designations; and''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(m) Community Flood Maps.--
``(1) Standards and procedures.--In addition to the other
duties of the Council under this section, not later than the
expiration of the 12-month period beginning on the date of the
enactment of this subsection, the Council shall recommend to
the Administrator standards and requirements for chief
executive officers, or entities designated by chief executive
officers, of States and communities participating in the
National Flood Insurance Program to use in mapping flood
hazards located in States and communities that choose to
develop alternative maps to the flood insurance rate maps
developed by the Agency. The recommended standards and
requirements shall include procedures for providing
notification and appeal rights to individuals within the
communities of the proposed flood elevation determinations.
``(2) Exemption from rulemaking.--Until such time as the
Administrator promulgates regulations implementing paragraph
(1) of this subsection, the Administrator may, notwithstanding
any other provision of law, adopt policies and procedures
necessary to implement such paragraphs without undergoing
notice and comment rulemaking and without conducting regulatory
analyses otherwise required by statute, regulation, or
executive order.''.
(b) FEMA Identification of Flood-Prone Areas.--Subsection (a) of
section 1360 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C.
4101(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and'';
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as
subparagraphs (A), and (B), respectively, and realigning such
subparagraphs so as to be indented 4 ems from the left margin;
(3) by striking ``is authorized to consult'' and inserting
the following: ``is authorized--
``(1) to consult'';
(4) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) to receive proposed alternative maps from communities
developed pursuant to standards and requirements recommended by
the Technical Mapping Advisory Council, as required by section
100215(m) of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of
2012 (42 U.S.C. 4101a(m)) and adopted by the Administrator as
required by section 100216(c)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
4101b(c)(3)), so that the Administrator may--
``(A) publish information with respect to all flood
plain areas, including coastal areas located in the
United States, which have special flood hazards, and
``(B) establish or update flood-risk zone data in
all such areas, and make estimates with respect to the
rates of probable flood caused loss for the various
flood risk zones for each of these areas until the date
specified in section 1319.''.
(c) National Flood Mapping Program.--Section 100216 of the Biggert-
Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (42 U.S.C. 4101b) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``prepared by the
Administrator, or by a community pursuant to section 1360(a)(2)
of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968,'' after ``Program
rate maps'';
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking the period at
the end and inserting a semicolon; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraphs:
``(3) establish and adopt standards and requirements for
development by States and communities of alternative flood
insurance rate maps to be submitted to the Administrator
pursuant to section 1360(a)(2) of the National Flood Insurance
Act of 1968, taking into consideration the recommendations of
the Technical Mapping Advisory Council made pursuant to section
100215(m) of this Act (42 U.S.C. 4101a(m)); and
``(4) in the case of proposed alternative maps received by
the Administrator pursuant to such section 1360(a)(2), not
later than the expiration of the 6-month period beginning upon
receipt of such proposed alternative maps--
``(A) determine whether such maps were developed in
accordance with the standards and requirements adopted
pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection; and
``(B) approve or disapprove such proposed maps for
use under National Flood Insurance Program.''; and
(3) in subsection (d)(1), by inserting ``maximum'' before
``30-day period'' each place such term appears in subparagraphs
(B) and (C).
<all>