H.R. 1035: To require a study of voluntary community-based flood insurance options and how such options could be incorporated into the national flood insurance program, and for other purposes.

GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/113/1/hr1035.

Background

In 1968, Congress established the NFIP as a way to reduce the public cost of widespread flood damage.  Under the program, residents who reside in a floodplain and have a federally backed mortgage are required to have flood insurance.  However, according to CRS, most at-risk individuals do not purchase the mandatory insurance.  Some estimates say that less than 20 percent of Americans in flood-zone areas have flood insurance.

H.R. 1035 would mitigate some of these problems by requiring FEMA to study the feasibility of community-based flood insurance policies, in which a local community (e.g. a town, village, etc.) would purchase insurance for all of its residents. 

Similar provisions have passed the House previously.  During negotiations in the 112^th Congress to reauthorize the NFIP, the House version included the bipartisan measure, but it was dropped at the last moment due to an oversight by the Senate.  Subsequently, the House passed the provision as a stand-alone in H.R. 6186 on September 10, 2012 by a recorded vote of 364-11 (Roll Call #559).  For more information, please see the Legislative Digest on H.R. 6186, located here.

Summary

H.R. 1035 requires FEMA to conduct a study to assess options, methods, and strategies for making available voluntary community-based flood insurance policies through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and report its recommendations for implementation to Congress within 18 months.  Additionally, it requires GAO to analyze FEMA's report and submit its comments or recommendations to Congress within 6 months.

Cost

There is no CBO score currently available.  However, CBO said of H.R. 6186 that, ““The costs of those studies would be discretionary and insignificant (i.e. less than $500,000) in each year.”

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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