§ 4104c — Mitigation Assistance

(a) The Administrator shall carry out a program to provide financial assistance to States and communities, using amounts made available from the National Flood Mitigation Fund under section 4104d of this title, for planning and carrying out activities designed to reduce the risk of flood damage to structures covered under contracts for flood insurance under this chapter. Such financial assistance shall be made available— (1) to States and communities in the form of grants under this section for carrying out mitigation activities; (2) to States and communities in the form of grants under this section for carrying out mitigation activities that reduce flood damage to severe repetitive loss structures; and (3) to property owners in the form of direct grants under this section for carrying out mitigation activities that reduce flood damage to individual structures for which 2 or more claim payments for losses have been made under flood insurance coverage under this chapter if the Administrator, after consultation with the State and community, determines that neither the State nor community in which such a structure is located has the capacity to manage such grants. (b) To be eligible to receive financial assistance under this section for mitigation activities, a State or community shall develop, and have approved by the Administrator, a flood risk mitigation plan (in this section referred to as a “mitigation plan”), that describes the mitigation activities to be carried out with assistance provided under this section, is consistent with the criteria established by the Administrator under section 4102 of this title, provides for reduction of flood losses to structures for which contracts for flood insurance are available under this chapter, and may be included in a multihazard mitigation plan. The mitigation plan shall be consistent with a comprehensive strategy for mitigation activities for the area affected by the mitigation plan, that has been adopted by the State or community following a public hearing. (1) Amounts provided under this section may be used only for mitigation activities that are consistent with mitigation plans that are approved by the Administrator and identified under paragraph (4). The Administrator shall provide assistance under this section to the extent amounts are available in the National Flood Mitigation Fund pursuant to appropriation Acts, subject only to the absence of approvable mitigation plans. (A) The Administrator may approve only mitigation activities that the Administrator determines— (i) are technically feasible and cost-effective; or (ii) will eliminate future payments from the National Flood Insurance Fund for severe repetitive loss structures through an acquisition or relocation activity. (B) In making a determination under subparagraph (A), the Administrator shall take into consideration recognized ancillary benefits. (3) Eligible activities under a mitigation plan may include— (A) demolition or relocation of any structure located on land that is along the shore of a lake or other body of water and is certified by an appropriate State or local land use authority to be subject to imminent collapse or subsidence as a result of erosion or flooding; (B) elevation, relocation, demolition, or floodproofing of structures (including public structures) located in areas having special flood hazards or other areas of flood risk; (C) acquisition by States and communities of properties (including public properties) located in areas having special flood hazards or other areas of flood risk and properties substantially damaged by flood, for public use, as the Administrator determines is consistent with sound land management and use in such area; (D) elevation, relocation, or floodproofing of utilities (including equipment that serves structures); (E) minor physical mitigation efforts that do not duplicate the flood prevention activities of other Federal agencies and that lessen the frequency or severity of flooding and decrease predicted flood damages, which shall not include major flood control projects such as dikes, levees, seawalls, groins, and jetties unless the Administrator specifically determines in approving a mitigation plan that such activities are the most cost-effective mitigation activities for the National Flood Mitigation Fund; (F) the development or update of mitigation plans by a State or community which meet the planning criteria established by the Administrator, except that the amount from grants under this section that may be used under this subparagraph may not exceed $50,000 for any mitigation plan of a State or $25,000 for any mitigation plan of a community; (G) the provision of technical assistance by States to communities and individuals to conduct eligible mitigation activities; (H) other activities that the Administrator considers appropriate and specifies in regulation; (I) other mitigation activities not described in subparagraphs (A) through (G) or the regulations issued under subparagraph (H), that are described in the mitigation plan of a State or community; and (J) without regard to the requirements under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (d), and if the State applied for and was awarded at least $1,000,000 in grants available under this section in the prior fiscal year, technical assistance to communities to identify eligible activities, to develop grant applications, and to implement grants awarded under this section, not to exceed $50,000 to any 1 State in any fiscal year. (4) The Administrator shall consider as an eligible activity the demolition and rebuilding of properties to at least base flood elevation or greater, if required by the Administrator or if required by any State regulation or local ordinance, and in accordance with criteria established by the Administrator. (d) The Administrator may provide grants for eligible mitigation activities as follows: (1) In the case of mitigation activities to severe repetitive loss structures, in an amount up to— (A) 100 percent of all eligible costs, if the activities are approved under subsection (c)(2)(A)(i); or (B) the expected savings to the National Flood Insurance Fund from expected avoided damages through acquisition or relocation activities, if the activities are approved under subsection (c)(2)(A)(ii). (2) In the case of mitigation activities to repetitive loss structures, in an amount up to 90 percent of all eligible costs. (3) In the case of all other mitigation activities, in an amount up to 75 percent of all eligible costs. (1) If the Administrator determines that a State or community that has received mitigation assistance under this section has not carried out the mitigation activities as set forth in the mitigation plan, the Administrator shall recapture any unexpended amounts and deposit the amounts in the National Flood Mitigation Fund under section 4104d of this title. (2) If the Administrator determines that a State or community that has received mitigation assistance under this section has not provided matching funds in the amount required under subsection (d), the Administrator shall recapture any unexpended amounts of mitigation assistance exceeding the amount of such matching funds actually provided and deposit the amounts in the National Flood Mitigation Fund under section 4104d of this title. (f) Not later than 1 year after July 6, 2012, and biennially thereafter, the Administrator shall submit a report to the Congress describing the status of mitigation activities carried out with assistance provided under this section. (g) For any application for a grant under this section for which the Administrator fails to make a grant award within 5 years of the date of the application, the grant application shall be considered to be denied and any funding amounts allocated for such grant applications shall remain in the National Flood Mitigation Fund under section 4104d of this title and shall be made available for grants under this section. (h) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) The term “community” means— (A) a political subdivision that— (i) has zoning and building code jurisdiction over a particular area having special flood hazards; and (ii) is participating in the national flood insurance program; or (B) a political subdivision of a State, or other authority, that is designated by political subdivisions, all of which meet the requirements of subparagraph (A), to administer grants for mitigation activities for such political subdivisions. (2) The term “repetitive loss structure” has the meaning given such term in section 4121 of this title. (3) The term “severe repetitive loss structure” means a structure that— (A) is covered under a contract for flood insurance made available under this chapter; and (B) has incurred flood-related damage— (i) for which 4 or more separate claims payments have been made under flood insurance coverage under this chapter, with the amount of each such claim exceeding $5,000, and with the cumulative amount of such claims payments exceeding $20,000; or (ii) for which at least 2 separate claims payments have been made under such coverage, with the cumulative amount of such claims exceeding the value of the insured structure.