"Flood Insurance Community Outreach Grant Program Act of 2006"
``FLOOD INSURANCE COMMUNITY OUTREACH GRANT PROGRAM ACT OF 2006'' -- (Extensions of Remarks - September 19, 2006)
* Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, one year after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it is clear that more needs to be done to protect and prepare homeowners from future catastrophic flooding.
Which is why I have introduced the ``Flood Insurance Community Outreach Grant Program Act of 2006.'' The intent of this legislation is to increase the overall participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) while moving the program toward long-term stability and solvency.
* My legislation will forge a stronger partnership between the federal government and local floodplain managers. It will: Create a grant program within FEMA to educate property owners about their flood risk and about the importance of flood insurance; and Funds this grant program at $50 million dollars annually over five years.
* People at risk of flooding need to know their options and our local floodplain managers are our best partners in this effort. To put it quite simply, with 20,000 participating communities in NFIP--one size does not fit all. Our local partners know the risks, they know the landscape and in many cases they know the people. They know how to reach out to the people in their flood plain.
* They can focus on the estimated 20 to 25 percent of property owners who have fallen through the cracks of our flood insurance system. People who are supposed to carry flood insurance, but do not carry it. Or use the money for an educational campaign directed towards people living in areas protected by levees, but not subject to the federal flood insurance requirement. Spreading the message: Levees can fail or overtop in severe weather. So it is common sense to carry flood insurance, even if the federal government no longer requires it.
* This program can work.
* Last year, with the support of a $162,000 FEMA grant, my local flood protection body, the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA), conducted just such a flood insurance outreach initiative.
* SAFCA reached out to more than 45,000 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders in the American River floodplain. In February 2005, this densely populated region was released from the Federal flood insurance requirement.
* SAFCA's efforts yielded impressive results.
* More than one year after SAFCA conducted outreach, 74 percent of the 45,000 NFIP policyholders who were removed from the Federal requirement had maintained their flood insurance protection.
* Of this group, 43 percent now carry Preferred Risk flood insurance. Preferred Risk Policies provide property owners, who have been released from the federal requirement, but remain at risk of flooding, with full flood insurance protection for about half the price of a Standard flood policy. Because of their lower cost, it is likely that these Preferred Risk Policies will result in a higher level of policy retention over time.
* Through this partnership with SAFCA, FEMA was able to retain a high number of flood insurance policies in the Sacramento region--a region that accounts for nearly 1 in 4 of all flood insurance policies in California.
* Increasing the number of people who carry and hold on to their flood insurance will only strengthen the National Flood Insurance Program. And as Katrina made painfully clear: We need a strong and functional program to be there for our constituents in times of crisis.
* While this grant program would be funded at $50 million annually and authorized for 5 years, I want to emphasize that this grant program has an excellent return on its investment.
* For FEMA to recoup its initial grant to SAFCA, 550 Preferred Risk Policies had to be sold to property owners who otherwise would have canceled their flood insurance. SAFCA accomplished this ..... more than 20 times over.
* Because of the FEMA and SAFCA partnership, more than 35,000 property owners who did not have to carry flood insurance stayed in the federal flood insurance pool. What is more, nearly 13,000 policyholders in the American River floodplain switched to Preferred Risk Policies.
* In short, FEMA got its money's worth. And this says nothing of the Sacramento premiums that will continue to come into the Federal flood insurance pool each year these policyholders maintain their flood insurance.
* Again, most of these policyholders no longer have to buy flood insurance. They do so because it is the safe thing to do. Because SAFCA has alerted them to the ongoing flood risk in their community. And because they saw what happened on the Gulf Coast.
* If we can have this type of success in Sacramento, I am confident it can be replicated across the country.
* These local outreach efforts will augment and benefit FEMA's existing marketing program by targeting property owners who are most likely to leave the NFIP--those who have been or will be released from the Federal flood insurance requirement.
* The lesson learned here is that people whose houses, apartments and businesses are vulnerable to flooding are willing to enter and stay in the National Flood Insurance Program when they are informed of the risk they face and the options available to them.
* Let me be clear; I speak from experience. When it comes to flood risk, my district of Sacramento is the most at-risk river city in the Nation.
* My highest priority is to provide the city of Sacramento, my neighbors and my constituents with the best flood protection possible. We are making strides in strengthening and reinforcing the levees in Sacramento and making improvements to Folsom Dam--but whenever I talk about these efforts, I remind my constituents, ``If you live behind a levee, you should purchase flood insurance.''
* Finally, I am encouraged by the efforts we are making as a Nation to develop a comprehensive flood protection agenda.
* FEMA is in the process of implementing their Map Modernization Program that will update our Nation's flood maps.
* Additionally, the Army Corps of Engineers is conducting a national levee inventory. When completed, this inventory will provide communities with a greater understanding of their flooding vulnerabilities. It will also provide us with a good indication as a country as to what long-term investments need to be made toward our flood protection infrastructure.
* Both the FEMA Remapping Initiative and the levee inventory are important to the long-term safety and economic security of our country. The ``Flood Insurance Community Outreach Grant Program Act of 2006'' would be an excellent resource for communities to augment these initiatives.
* This bill is a step in the right direction in providing for comprehensive flood protection for property owners and communities. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
http://thomas.loc.gov/