Download or read book FEMA Action Needed to Improve Administration of the National Flood Insurance Program written by Orice Williams Brown and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011-09 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has been on a high-risk list since March 2006 because of concerns about its long-term financial solvency and related operational issues. Significant management challenges also affect the Federal Emergency Management Agency¿s (FEMA) ability to administer NFIP. This report examines: (1) the extent to which FEMA¿s management practices affect the administration of NFIP; (2) lessons learned from the cancellation of FEMA¿s attempt to modernize NFIP¿s insurance management system; and (3) limitations on FEMA¿s authority that could affect NFIP¿s financial stability. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.
Download or read book Fema written by United States Government Accountability Office and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-01-05 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FEMA: Action Needed to Improve Administration of the National Flood Insurance Program
Download or read book FEMA written by Orice Williams Brown and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Overview of GAO s Past Work on the National Flood Insurance Program written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Financial Services. Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past 11 years, GAO has identified a variety of challenges facing the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and has made numerous recommendations to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to improve its administration of the program. FEMA has generally agreed with GAO's recommendations and has taken steps to address them. However, FEMA has not fully addressed all of the issues we have reported on and will need to address provisions in both the Biggert-Waters Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (Biggert-Waters Act) and the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 (2014 Act) that affect many aspects of NFIP, including its finances, rate setting, and participation. Among other things, GAO found the following: 1) Finances. As of December 31, 2013, FEMA owed the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) $24 billion--primarily to pay claims associated with Superstorm Sandy (2012) and Hurricane Katrina (2005)--and had not made a principal payment since 2010. The Biggert-Waters Act requires FEMA to issue a report to Congress by January 2013 on a repayment plan setting forth options to repay FEMA's total debt to Treasury within 10 years. However, as of January 2014, FEMA had not issued such a report. According to FEMA officials, preliminary analysis suggests that under FEMA's planned implementation of the act, the agency will not be able to repay its debt within the 10-year time frame. The officials said the report will contain options for retiring the debt within 10 years, but that most of the options would require congressional action. As required by the act, FEMA is establishing a reserve fund that could help reduce the need for future borrowing from Treasury. However, FEMA is unlikely to initially meet the act's annual targets for building up the reserve, due partly to statutory limitations on annual premium increases. 2) Premium rate setting. FEMA's methodology for determining full-risk premium rates may not fully reflect the actual risk of flood damage as intended. Consistent with recommendations GAO made in 2008, FEMA has initiated actions to improve the accuracy of full-risk rates, including updating data used in the model it uses to set rates. However, these actions are in the preliminary stages. FEMA had begun implementing Biggert-Waters Act provisions to reduce and eventually eliminate most subsidized rates on remaining policies. However, the 2014 Act reinstates some of these subsidies. Phasing out and eventually eliminating subsidies remaining after the 2014 Act poses challenges for FEMA. For example, to appropriately revise rates for policies that were previously subsidized (that is, had discounted insurance premiums), FEMA will need information on the relative risk of flooding and property elevations, which generally had not been required for subsidized policies prior to the Biggert-Waters Act. FEMA is evaluating approaches to obtain this information in response to a recommendation GAO made in a 2013 report. Premium rate increases arising from the act may also pose affordability challenges for some homeowners. The 2014 Act's repeal of certain rate increases in the Biggert-Waters Act will address affordability concerns, but may also reduce program revenues and weaken the financial soundness of the NFIP program. 3) Participation. Overall NFIP penetration rates--the proportion of all properties with flood insurance--are low, according to estimates based on available limited data. In addition, while some homeowners are required to purchase flood insurance for the life of their mortgage loans, information on the extent of compliance with this requirement is limited. As of September 31, 2013, there were more than 5.5 million NFIP policies in force, but several factors have negatively affected program participation. These include inaccurate perceptions about the risk of flooding and the cost of purchasing policies, as well as the inaccurate assumption that flood perils are included in homeowner's insurance policies. FEMA has taken a number of steps to broaden participation in NFIP, including development of a national outreach strategy. In addition, the Biggert-Waters Act includes several provisions to strengthen enforcement of the mandatory purchase requirement and to address some of the factors that limit participation.
Download or read book Financial Management Improvements Needed in National Flood Insurance Program s Financial Controls and Oversight written by Susan Ragland and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Due to the federal government's role as guarantor, floods impose an enormous potential financial burden on the federal government. Consequently, decision makers at the Dept. of Homeland Security, FEMA, and the Congress need accurate and timely financial information to assess the effectiveness of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This report assesses whether controls in place during the 2005 to 2007 time frame were effective and whether actions to improve controls are likely to address identified weaknesses. The report reviewed and analyzed FEMA/NFIP guidance, data, and financial reports, and interviewed FEMA officials and contractors. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables.
Download or read book Federal Emergency Management Agency written by William O. Jenkins, Jr. and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2006-03 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the wake of Hurricane Isabel in 2003, this is a report on issues related to the Nat. Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) & its oversight & mgmt. by the Fed. Emergency Mgmt. Agency (FEMA). Private insurance companies sell NFIP policies & adjust claims, while a private program contractor helps FEMA administer the NFIP. This report assesses: (1) the statutory & regulator limitations on coverage for homeowners under the NFIP; (2) FEMA's role in monitoring & overseeing the NFIP; (3) FEMA's response to concerns regarding NFIP payments for Hurricane Isabel claims; & (4) the status of FEMA's implementation of provisions of the Flood Insur. Reform Act of 2004. Impacts from Hurricane Katrina were not part of the report's scope. Tables.
Download or read book Levees and the National Flood Insurance Program written by Committee on Levees and the National Flood Insurance Program Improving Policies and Practices and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2013-08-01 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is a cornerstone in the U.S. strategy to assist communities to prepare for, mitigate against, and recover from flood disasters. The NFIP was established by Congress with passage of the National Flood Insurance Act in 1968, to help reduce future flood damages through NFIP community floodplain regulation that would control development in flood hazard areas, provide insurance for a premium to property owners, and reduce federal expenditures for disaster assistance. The flood insurance is available only to owners of insurable property located in communities that participate in the NFIP. Currently, the program has 5,555,915 million policies in 21,881 communities3 across the United States. The NFIP defines the one percent annual chance flood (100-year or base flood) floodplain as a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). The SFHA is delineated on FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM's) using topographic, meteorologic, hydrologic, and hydraulic information. Property owners with a federally back mortgage within the SFHAs are required to purchase and retain flood insurance, called the mandatory flood insurance purchase requirement (MPR). Levees and floodwalls, hereafter referred to as levees, have been part of flood management in the United States since the late 1700's because they are relatively easy to build and a reasonable infrastructure investment. A levee is a man-made structure, usually an earthen embankment, designed and constructed in accordance with sound engineering practices to contain, control, or divert the flow of water so as to provide protection from temporary flooding. A levee system is a flood protection system which consists of a levee, or levees, and associated structures, such as closure and drainage devices, which are constructed and operated in accordance with sound engineering practices. Recognizing the need for improving the NFIP's treatment of levees, FEMA officials approached the National Research Council's (NRC) Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB) and requested this study. The NRC responded by forming the ad hoc Committee on Levee and the National Flood Insurance Program: Improving Policies and Practices, charged to examine current FEMA treatment of levees within the NFIP and provide advice on how those levee-elated policies and activities could be improved. The study addressed four broad areas, risk analysis, flood insurance, risk reduction, and risk communication, regarding how levees are considered in the NFIP. Specific issues within these areas include current risk analysis and mapping procedures behind accredited and non-accredited levees, flood insurance pricing and the mandatory flood insurance purchase requirement, mitigation options to reduce risk for communities with levees, flood risk communication efforts, and the concept of shared responsibility. The principal conclusions and recommendations are highlighted in this report.
Download or read book Increased Cost of Compliance Coverage written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Desk Reference FEMA 345 written by Federal Emergency Management Agency and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program is a powerful resource in the combined effort by Federal, State, and local government, as well as private industry and homeowners, to end the cycle of repetitive disaster damage. The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act was passed on November 23, 1988, amending Public Law 93-288, the Disaster Relief Act of 1974. The Stafford Act included Section 404, which established the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. In 1993, the Hazard Mitigation and Relocation Act amended Section 404 to increase the amount of HMGP funds available and the cost-share to 75 percent Federal. This amendment also encouraged the use of property acquisition and other non-structural flood mitigation measures. In an effort to streamline HMGP delivery, FEMA encourages States to develop their mitigation programs before disaster strikes. States are adopting a more active HMGP management role. Increased capabilities may include: Conducting comprehensive all-hazard mitigation planning prior to disaster events; Providing applicants technical assistance on sound mitigation techniques and hazard mitigation policy and procedures; Coordinating mitigation programs through interagency teams or councils. Conducting benefit-cost analyses; and Preparing National Environmental Policy Act reviews for FEMA approval. States that integrate the HMGP with their frequently updated State Administrative and Hazard Mitigation Plans will create cohesive and effective approaches to loss reduction. This type of coordinated approach minimizes the distinction between “predisaster” and “post-disaster” time periods, and instead produces an ongoing mitigation effort. Hazard mitigation is any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards and their effects. A key purpose of the HMGP is to ensure that the opportunity to take critical mitigation measures to protect life and property from future disasters is not lost during the recovery and reconstruction process following a disaster. Program grant funds available under Section 404 of the Stafford Act provide States with the incentive and capability to implement mitigation measures that previously may have been infeasible. The purpose of this Desk Reference is to: Provide comprehensive information about FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP); Increase awareness of the HMGP as an integral part of statewide hazard mitigation efforts; and Encourage deeper commitments and increased responsibilities on the part of all States and communities to reduce damage and losses from natural disasters. This Desk Reference is organized to simplify program information and assist the reader with practical guidance for successful participation in the program. Lists of program-related acronyms and definitions are included, along with appendices that amplify selected aspects of the HMGP. This Desk Reference is organized into 14 sections, each of which presents a major HMGP subject area. In each section, information is presented on the right side of the page. In several sections, job aids containing supplemental material are provided. The job aids for each section can be found at the end of the section. At the front of each section, there is a detailed table of contents to help you locate specific information.
Download or read book National Flood Insurance Program written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Federal Emergency Management Agency improvements needed to enhance oversight and management of the National Flood Insurance Program report to congressional committees written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2005 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Affordability of National Flood Insurance Program Premiums written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2016-02-21 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Congress authorized the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in 1968, it intended for the program to encourage community initiatives in flood risk management, charge insurance premiums consistent with actuarial pricing principles, and encourage the purchase of flood insurance by owners of flood prone properties, in part, by offering affordable premiums. The NFIP has been reauthorized many times since 1968, most recently with the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW 2012). In this most recent reauthorization, Congress placed a particular emphasis on setting flood insurance premiums following actuarial pricing principles, which was motivated by a desire to ensure future revenues were adequate to pay claims and administrative expenses. BW 2012 was designed to move the NFIP towards risk-based premiums for all flood insurance policies. The result was to be increased premiums for some policyholders that had been paying less than NFIP risk-based premiums and to possibly increase premiums for all policyholders. Recognition of this possibility and concern for the affordability of flood insurance is reflected in sections of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 (HFIAA 2014). These sections called on FEMA to propose a draft affordability framework for the NFIP after completing an analysis of the efforts of possible programs for offering "means-tested assistance" to policyholders for whom higher rates may not be affordable. BW 2012 and HFIAA 2014 mandated that FEMA conduct a study, in cooperation with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which would compare the costs of a program of risk-based rates and means-tested assistance to the current system of subsidized flood insurance rates and federally funded disaster relief for people without coverage. Production of two reports was agreed upon to fulfill this mandate. This second report proposes alternative approaches for a national evaluation of affordability program policy options and includes lessons for the design of a national study from a proof-of-concept pilot study.
Download or read book Alluvial Fan Flooding written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1996-10-07 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alluvial fans are gently sloping, fan-shaped landforms common at the base of mountain ranges in arid and semiarid regions such as the American West. Floods on alluvial fans, although characterized by relatively shallow depths, strike with little if any warning, can travel at extremely high velocities, and can carry a tremendous amount of sediment and debris. Such flooding presents unique problems to federal and state planners in terms of quantifying flood hazards, predicting the magnitude at which those hazards can be expected at a particular location, and devising reliable mitigation strategies. Alluvial Fan Flooding attempts to improve our capability to determine whether areas are subject to alluvial fan flooding and provides a practical perspective on how to make such a determination. The book presents criteria for determining whether an area is subject to flooding and provides examples of applying the definition and criteria to real situations in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, and elsewhere. The volume also contains recommendations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is primarily responsible for floodplain mapping, and for state and local decisionmakers involved in flood hazard reduction.
Download or read book National Flood Insurance Program Continued Actions Needed to Address Financial and Operational Issues written by Orice Williams Brown and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010-08 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Nat. Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), established in 1968, provides policyholders with insurance coverage for flood damage. FEMA is responsible for managing NFIP. Unprecedented losses from the 2005 hurricane season and NFIP¿s periodic need to borrow from the U.S. Treasury to pay flood insurance claims have raised concerns about the program¿s long-term financial solvency. Because of these concerns and NFIP¿s operational issues, NFIP has been on a high-risk list since March 2006. As of April 2010, NFIP¿s debt to Treasury stood at $18.8 billion. This testimony discusses: (1) NFIP¿s financial challenges; (2) FEMA¿s operational and management challenges; and (3) actions needed to address these challenges. Includes recommendations.
Download or read book Flood Insurance written by Orice Williams Brown and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 21 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Nat. Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has been on the high-risk list since 2006, when the program had to borrow form the U.S. Treasury to cover losses from the 2005 hurricanes. The outstanding debt is $17.8 billion as of June 2011. This sizeable debt, plus operational and mgmt. challenges at FEMA, which administers NFIP, have combined to keep the program on the high-risk list. NFIP¿s need to borrow to cover claims in years of catastrophic flooding has raised concerns about the program¿s long-term financial solvency. This testimony: (1) discusses ways to place NFIP on a sounder financial footing; and (2) highlights operational and mgmt. challenges at FEMA that affect the program. This is a print on demand report.
Download or read book A Unified National Program for Floodplain Management written by United States. Interagency Task Force on Floodplain Management and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prepared by the Interagency Task Force on Floodplain Management. Includes National Flood Insurance Program.
