September 20, 2011

The Honorable Kay Hagan
521 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

RE: Legislative Proposals to Reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)

Dear Senator Hagan:

We write in support of the two amendments that you filed to the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2011 that will facilitate mitigation within the Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) properties and the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) Coverage programs. Though our organizations represent diverse constituencies, we have found common ground on issues related to flood insurance reform and we support your efforts to improve mitigation of the most flood prone properties. Thank you for your leadership in reforming the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

We know that mitigation measures not only help to safeguard communities and protect the environment but that they also are cost effective. For every $1 spent on mitigation, $5 is saved because less investment is needed to clean up and rebuild after a disaster. We support the SRL and ICC amendments because they will ensure that communities have the tools they need to implement mitigation measures that will increase community resiliency to the next flood.

• The SRL amendment provides more flexibility to help communities who wish to reduce flood risk by moving people out of the floodplain to do so. Currently, communities are challenged with preventing rebuilding and the elevation of homes after a flood event because of the need to meet FEMA’s cost benefit analysis. This amendment simply allows any SRL structure to be eligible for mitigation funding in the form of buyouts and relocations while still ensuring savings to the National Flood Insurance Fund.
   
• The ICC amendment will help communities who wish to implement relocation and buyout mitigation projects under the ICC Coverage Program to do so. Currently the ICC favors elevation projects by providing more financial incentive for property owners to rebuild in flood hazard areas. This amendment would expand allowable expenses and provide an additional option for communities desiring to offer property owners a buyout or relocation.

We appreciate your leadership in providing needed NFIP reforms that increase communities’ ability to implement cost-efficient mitigation measures to reduce their risk from flooding. As we continue to witness record breaking flooding, these reforms could not come at a better time. We support including these proposals in the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2011. We look forward to working with you on legislative proposals that will safeguard communities, protect the environment and more efficiently utilize taxpayer dollars.

Sincerely,

American Rivers
Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers
The Heartland Institute
The National Wildlife Federation
The Nature Conservancy
Taxpayers for Common Sense

Cc:
Senator Tim Johnson, Chairman, Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Senator Richard C. Shelby, Ranking Member, Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs