HouseH.R. 9056119th Congress

Community Flood Resilience Act

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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9056 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9056

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
 to allow certain recipients of the Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant, 
    and other grants, to be used for the payment of premiums for a 
   community-based, parametric flood insurance policy, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 29, 2026

  Mr. Garbarino (for himself and Mr. Meeks) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
 to allow certain recipients of the Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant, 
    and other grants, to be used for the payment of premiums for a 
   community-based, parametric flood insurance policy, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Community Flood Resilience Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) many communities with significant flood risk continue 
        to experience chronically low participation in the National 
        Flood Insurance Program, leaving households and small 
        businesses financially vulnerable to flood events and 
        increasing reliance on post-disaster Federal assistance;
            (2) there is a need to promote greater engagement with 
        private flood insurance markets and improve insurance awareness 
        in communities with elevated flood risk and historically low 
        flood insurance take-up rates;
            (3) community-based parametric flood insurance has the 
        potential to provide faster, more transparent, and more 
        flexible financial protection at a community level and can 
        serve as a supplemental form of risk transfer alongside 
        existing flood insurance coverage; and
            (4) community-based parametric flood insurance may help 
        strengthen the financial resilience of communities undertaking 
        flood mitigation and resilience investments by providing an 
        additional layer of protection for households and small 
        businesses.

SEC. 3. USE OF FLOOD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE GRANT AMOUNTS FOR PREMIUMS 
              OF COMMUNITY-BASED, PARAMETRIC FLOOD INSURANCE.

    (a) Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant Eligible Use of Funds.--
            (1) In general.--For the period that is 5 years after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 
        Federal Emergency Management Agency (hereafter referred to as 
        the ``Administrator'') shall permit any State or community that 
        receives flood mitigation assistance under section 1366 of the 
        National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104c) to use 
        not more than 15 percent of such assistance amounts each year 
        for the payment of premiums for a community-based, parametric 
        flood insurance policy that--
                    (A) is offered through the private sector;
                    (B) specifies objective, predefined trigger 
                conditions for payout based on measurable flood-related 
                metrics;
                    (C) includes timelines and disbursement terms 
                agreed upon at the time of underwriting; and
                    (D) provides that funds shall be disbursed to the 
                participating community promptly upon verification that 
                a triggering condition has been met, without the need 
                for post-event damage assessment or additional 
                administrative approval by the Administrator.
            (2) Report.--In each year that a State or community that 
        uses assistance amounts as described in paragraph (1), such 
        State or community shall submit to the Administrator a report 
        that describes how such State or community--
                    (A) promotes National Flood Insurance Program 
                policy enrollment;
                    (B) educates members of the community about the 
                limitations community-based, parametric flood 
                insurance;
                    (C) encourages flood-risk mitigation;
                    (D) uses community based, parametric flood 
                insurance to--
                            (i) support households and small 
                        businesses; and
                            (ii) contribute to broader flood resilience 
                        and insurance awareness efforts; and
                    (E) encourages flood insurance take-up by improving 
                public awareness of flood risk and promoting 
                participation in either the National Flood Insurance 
                Program or a private flood insurance offering.
            (3) Sunset.--The permission described in paragraph (1) 
        shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, absent a reauthorization by the 
        Congress.
    (b) Promotion of Community-Based Flood Insurance.--The 
Administrator shall--
            (1) conduct outreach to communities to spread awareness 
        with respect to community-based, parametric flood insurance 
        policies and the eligible use described in subsection (a); and
            (2) notwithstanding any other provision of law, allow for 
        the use of other grant amounts under the authority of the 
        Administrator for the payment of premiums of community-based, 
        parametric flood insurance policies by grant recipients for the 
        5 year period after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Disclosure Required.--Any community based, parametric flood 
insurance policy for which premiums are paid as described in subsection 
(a) shall include a written dislcosure that explains--
            (1) the specific trigger conditions under which a payout 
        will and will not be made;
            (2) the circumstances under which a triggering event may 
        occur but individual households or small businesses within the 
        community may not receive financial relief (commonly referred 
        to as the ``basis risk''); and
            (3) how the parametric policy interacts with and differs 
        from flood insurance provided under the National Flood 
        Insurance Program.
    (d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, and on the dates that are 3 and 5 years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the 
Congress a report that contains--
            (1) an analysis of any changes to the number of National 
        Flood Insurance policies in communities that use flood 
        mitigation assistance grant amounts as described in section 
        1366(c)(3)(k) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and 
        communities that do not use such grant amounts as described in 
        such section;
            (2) a description of the product types of community-based, 
        parametric flood insurance policies that communities use, 
        including the number of households covered by such policies;
            (3) an analysis of the timeliness and effectiveness of 
        claim payouts through community-based, parametric flood 
        insurance policies for which premiums are paid for as described 
        in such section;
            (4) an assessment of outreach and flood insurance awareness 
        efforts; and
            (5) any legislative recommendations for the continuation or 
        expansion of community-based, parametric flood insurance 
        policies.
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