“To provide for improvements to National Flood Insurance Program rate maps, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section amends section 100216 of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (42 U.S.C. 4101b), which establishes requirements for National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) rate maps used to assess flood risk and set insurance premiums, as follows: (1) requires inclusion of planimetric features—accompanied by associated parcel identification data and, to the maximum extent practicable using public and private address data, addresses—in NFIP rate maps; (2) adds rate map format requirements to conform with geospatial data from the National Spatial Reference System 2022 (not later than 5 years after completion by the National Geodetic Survey) and to be spatially accurate per common geographic information system protocols under sec. 216 of the E-Government Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note); (3) directs the FEMA Administrator to coordinate with the U.S. Geological Survey to maintain stream flow networks (i.e., networks of stream gage stations measuring water flow, height, chemistry, and temperature via geospatial real-time data feeds) critical to NFIP mapping and risk assessments by ensuring modern hardware, densification in high-risk areas, reactivation of inactive stations, and faster data feeds; (4) requires FEMA to maintain a public national geospatial data repository on its website providing access to raw planimetric and parcel data (viewable and queryable to the property level where available), flood risks, insurance zones, elevations, hydrologic and hydraulic models, structure footprints, depth grids, risk reports and assessments (including Hazus analyses), hazard mitigation plans, and other flood products in a consistent manner; (5) requires the FEMA Administrator to verify rate map data for currency and credibility not less frequently than every 5 years; and (6) mandates qualifications-based selection (per 40 U.S.C. 1103) for contracts and subcontracts under the Act for program management, architectural and engineering services (as defined in 40 U.S.C. 1102), or surveying and mapping (including geospatial measurement and depiction of physical features and boundaries via topographic, photogrammetric, LiDAR, remote sensing, and related methods), without superseding applicable State licensing laws.