Hinojosa Votes To Protect South Texas By Extending The Authorization Of The National Flood Insurance Program

Press Release

Hinojosa Votes To Protect South Texas By Extending The Authorization Of The National Flood Insurance Program

Today, Congressman Rubén Hinojosa (D-Mercedes) voted to pass H.R. 3139, a bill to extend the authorization of the National Flood Insurance Program an additional six months to March 31, 2010. Congressman Hinojosa is an original cosponsor of the legislation.

Congressman Hinojosa said, “This bill represents important news for residents of Deep South Texas, who live in an area that is impacted frequently from flooding resulting from our Tropical climate. Our citizens need relief and support from agencies such as FEMA and this legislation provides it.”

The House adopted an amendment to the underlying bill. The amendment consisted of the language included in H.R. 1525, which would require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to consider reconstruction and improvement of flood protection systems when establishing flood insurance rates.

Due to shrinking Federal participation, states and communities across the country are investing millions of dollars into flood infrastructure. This legislation will require FEMA to take this investment into account and recognize local commitment to obtaining adequate flood protection.

Currently, only communities with federally funded levee improvements, not state or locally funded improvements are eligible for an A99 designation. A99 designates areas subject to inundation by the 1-percent-annual-chance flood event, but which will ultimately be protected upon completion of an under-construction Federal flood protection system. These are areas of special flood hazard where enough progress has been made on the construction of a protection system, such as dikes, dams, and levees, to consider it complete for insurance rating purposes. Zone A99 may only be used when the flood protection system has reached specified statutory progress toward completion. No Base Flood Elevations (BFEs) or depths are shown. Mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements and floodplain management standards apply.

As amended, H.R. 3139 makes a number of modifications to the National Flood Insurance Act in order to give communities clarity to help them restore or improve their flood protection systems.

The current regulations are vague on what a completed system is which has caused concern and confusion among local communities. Consequently, H.R. 3139, as amended makes the present value of the completed system the basis for calculating progress toward the project cost of the system. This provision brings greater clarity to what “50 percent complete” means by combining a reasonable public safety level with a definable milestone.

This legislation is even more important now because the Committee on Financial Services will begin holding hearings on reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program this fall.

Congressman Hinojosa concluded, “My colleagues in Congress recognize that this is an important issue for many Americans. I hope the Senate will consider this legislation and send it to President Obama for his signature. This way, Americans across the country can see that we will stand by them when they need us the most.”

The bill now goes to the Senate for its consideration.

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