Bill > S1284

This bill amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to ensure that communities that reconstruct or improve existing flood protection systems, not just those that build new ones, can qualify for more favorable flood insurance rates. The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which oversees the National Flood Insurance Program, will now be required to consider these reconstruction and improvement efforts when setting insurance rates. Additionally, the bill clarifies that entities responsible for owning, operating, maintaining, or repairing flood protection systems, rather than solely federal agencies, can determine if these systems are restorable, meaning they can be repaired or brought back to a functional state. This change aims to incentivize ongoing maintenance and upgrades to flood defenses by making them a factor in flood insurance pricing.