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Regular Session, 2013
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 114
BY SENATOR MILLS
CONGRESS. Memorializes Congress to review and amend or revise the Biggert-Waters
Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012.
A RESOLUTION1
To memorialize the Congress of the United States to prevent unnecessary and unintended2
harm to coastal communities, individuals, and businesses by immediately amending3
the Biggert-Waters Act and mandating revision of Federal Emergency Management4
Agency flood-risk maps.5
WHEREAS, in 2012 Congress re-authorized the National Flood Insurance Program6
in the Biggert-Waters Act; and7
WHEREAS, language in the Biggert-Waters Act phases out certain subsidized flood8
insurance rates, thereby allowing rate increases to the costs of obtaining such flood insurance9
of either twenty or twenty-five percent a year, depending upon the property, until rates reach10
actuarial status; and11
WHEREAS, at the same time the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)12
issued new flood-risk maps showing that properties not protected by one hundred year flood13
federal levees would be considered as inadequately safeguarded against floods, with the14
result that such properties became significantly higher-risk property for the purpose of flood15
insurance rate premium calculation and elevation requirements; and16
WHEREAS, the confluence of these two events has resulted in potential economic17
disaster for coastal communities, businesses, and individuals now faced not only with18 SR NO. 114
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unaffordable flood insurance premiums but also with the inability to transfer or sell property1
deemed by FEMA to be at higher risk of flooding; and2
WHEREAS, legislation and amendments are pending in Congress to delay the3
premium increases authorized by the Biggert-Waters Act for one year to determine the4
effects of such changes upon the availability, affordability, and sustainability of flood5
insurance; and6
WHEREAS, FEMA is also now in discussions to reconsider and revise its flood-risk7
maps to include the effects of locally-built levees, pumping stations, and floodgates, all of8
which have been funded, designed, and built to provide substantial protection from flooding,9
and also to develop new maps that more accurately reflect actual area flood risk; and10
WHEREAS, it is necessary for both Congress and FEMA to take immediate action11
to prevent pending and unintended economic catastrophe for coastal communities,12
individuals, and businesses; and13
WHEREAS, without action by both Congress and FEMA, it has been estimated that14
at least half a million homes and businesses in Louisiana could be severely impacted, and15
that other coastal communities outside of Louisiana could face similar economic devastation,16
including communities, individuals, and businesses in New York, New Jersey, and other17
states severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.18
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana memorializes19
the Congress of the United States to prevent unnecessary and unintended harm to coastal20
communities, individuals, and businesses by immediately amending the Biggert-Waters Act21
and mandating revision of Federal Emergency Management Agency flood-risk maps.22
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution shall be transmitted23
to the secretary of the United States Senate and the clerk of the United States House of24
Representatives, and to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United States25
Congress, and to the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.26 SR NO. 114
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The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Cheryl Horne.
DIGEST
Mills SR No. 114
Memorializes Congress to review and amend or revise the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance
Reform Act of 2012.