As Missourians battle floods caused by the swollen Missouri River, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) today successfully passed an amendment to H.R. 1309, the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011, requiring the administrator of FEMA to review the processes and procedures for determining that a flood has commenced and communicating that information to the public for flood insurance purposes.

FEMA officials declared the flooding along the Missouri River to be a “flood in progress” on June 1, 2011, but did not publicly announce this determination until June 6, 2011.     

 Luetkemeyer’s amendment calls on the FEMA administrator to take into consideration the effects and implications that weather conditions, such as rainfall, snowfall, projected snowmelt, existing water levels, and other conditions have on the determination that a flood event has commenced or is in progress. FEMA has six months to complete this process after enactment of the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011 and report to Congress detailing their conclusions of the review and any actions that will help better inform the public that a flood event has commenced or is in progress.

 “My office continues to work with local, state and federal officials in preparing communities along the Missouri River for flooding. Families and businesses need the peace of mind that they are doing all they can to protect their lives and property, and that is why it is critical that FEMA is held accountable in developing better procedures for communicating to the public that a flood event has started,” Luetkemeyer said. “I am committed to making the NFIP easier to use by those in the path of flooding.”

During the House Financial Services Committee’s consideration of the legislation, Luetkemeyer passed an amendment that gives river communities credit for the levees and flood control structures already in place. This amendment ensured that FEMA discontinues its use of the existing “without levees” analysis in determining new flood insurance rate maps. Current FEMA policy assumes that a levee or other flood control structure that exists physically, but does not meet FEMA’s certification standards, does not exist for the purposes of flood map modeling. This leads to reduced precision of flood maps and diminished confidence in the mapping process itself.  It also drives up the cost for flood insurance, significantly impacting small and rural communities who are operating on limited funds and may not have the capital necessary to build entirely new flood control structures.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was created in 1968 to help provide a means for property owners to financially protect themselves. The NFIP offers flood insurance to homeowners, renters, and business owners if their community participates in the NFIP. Participating communities agree to adopt and enforce ordinances that meet or exceed FEMA requirements to reduce the risk of flooding.

Luetkemeyer’s amendment was attached to the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011, which provides for a long-term reauthorization of the NFIP and includes important reforms to improve the program’s financial stability, reduce the burden on taxpayers and provide avenues to increase private sector participation in the flood insurance market.

Congress last enacted significant reforms in 2004. The Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011 reauthorizes the NFIP for a period of five years while making changes to the NFIP that protect taxpayers. The legislation seeks to make technical clarifications to language regarding risk mapping standards and to FEMA’s authority to consider the demolition or rebuilding of certain properties as an eligible activity for mitigation assistance.  The bill also seeks to clarify FEMA’s authority to utilize private reinsurance in an effort to lessen the financial burden on taxpayers, as well as a requirement that the agency seek and report on proposals from the private market for assuming risk within the program. The NFIP currently operates with a $17.75 billion debt, and the Government Accountability Office has listed the NFIP as high-risk since 2006.  The program has been widely criticized for under-pricing risk. This Act addresses the serious financial challenges to the NFIP by eliminating or phasing out subsidies as quickly as possible. This legislation helps reduce the program’s shortfall and protect American taxpayers.