Key House and Senate members have reached a bipartisan deal to delay changes to the federal flood insurance program

Bipartisan
Deal Reached to Delay Flood Insurance Premium Hikes: Waters

 

Key
House and Senate members have reached a bipartisan deal to delay changes to the
federal flood insurance program that are raising premiums for many homeowners.
The bill would require regulators to address affordability of the coverage
before implementing rate hikes.

 

Rep.
Maxine Waters, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee,
announced the bipartisan legislative fix for the National Flood Insurance
Program (NFIP) that she said will assure that “changes are implemented
affordably.”

 

Waters
was a chief architect of the bipartisan Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform
Act that ordered an end to many premium subsidies for property owners and a
remapping of communities along with other changes that are resulting in many
homeowners facing big premium hikes and more property owners being told they
must buy flood coverage. In some areas, the premiums hikes are beginning to
affect home sales.

 

The
Biggert-Waters law was intended to help reduce the debt of the NFIP, a debt now
estimated at more than $25 billion, by bringing rates charged more in line with
the risk and losses in flood-prone areas.

 

The
new legislation calls for a four-year delay in most rate increases and requires
FEMA, which administers the flood program, to complete an affordability study
and propose regulations that address affordability issues.

 

The
bipartisan deal comes after several weeks of negotiations with Democrats and
Republicans in the House and Senate. Waters said that on Oct. 9, in the midst
of the government shutdown, she convened a bipartisan meeting of nearly 20
House members, as well as Senate staff, to build consensus around an agreement
to delay and fix the program.

 

“Over
the past several months, I have felt the harm and heartache that many Americans
have already experienced as a result of changes to the National Flood Insurance
Program. From the start, I have made clear that I would lead the effort to fix
the unintended consequences of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act,”
said Waters in a statement released by her office announcing the deal.

 

She
said the legislation will be released this week in the House and Senate. It
will impose a delay likely to total four years for the most vulnerable
properties, by delaying implementation of rate increases until two years after
FEMA completes an affordability study, which was mandated in Biggert-Waters but
not undertaken.

 

In
addition, the legislation requires FEMA to propose regulations that address the
affordability issues within 18 months after the completion of the study and
establishes a six month moratorium thereafter to provide for Congressional
review.

 

The
proposed delay applies to: primary, non-repetitive loss residences that are
currently grandfathered; all properties sold after July 6, 2012; and all properties
that purchased a new policy after July 6, 2012.

 

FEMA
has estimated it will take two years to complete the affordability study before
regulations can be issued and reviewed by Congress, meaning rate increases
would be delayed for approximately four years in total, according to Waters.

 

In
addition, Waters said the legislation:

•Allows
FEMA to utilize national flood insurance funds to reimburse policyholders who
successfully appeal a map determination.

•Eliminates
the 50 percent cap on state and local contributions to levee construction and
reconstruction

•Protects
the so-called “basement exception,” which allows the lowest proofed opening in
a home to be used for determining flood insurance rates.

•Establishes
a Flood Insurance Rate Map Advocate within FEMA to answer current and
prospective policyholder questions about the flood mapping process.

•Requires
FEMA to certify that the agency has fully adopted a modernized risk-based
approach to analyzing flood risk.

 

Lawmakers
from both parties have been clamoring for a delay in the Biggert-Waters
reforms.

 

FEMA
Director Craig Fugate, under pressure from lawmakers to delay the premium
increases, told Congress that legislation was necessary because he does not
believe he has the authority under the Biggert-Water Act to stop the changes
administratively. He also said there was not enough time or money to complete
an affordability study before the changes went into effect.

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