42 U.S.C. § 4002 : US Code - Section 4002: Additional Congressional findings and declaration of purpose

Search 42 U.S.C. § 4002 : US Code - Section 4002: Additional Congressional findings and declaration of purpose

(a) The Congress finds that -
(1) annual losses throughout the Nation from floods and
mudslides are increasing at an alarming rate, largely as a result
of the accelerating development of, and concentration of
population in, areas of flood and mudslide hazards;
(2) the availability of Federal loans, grants, guaranties,
insurance, and other forms of financial assistance are often
determining factors in the utilization of land and the location
and construction of public and of private industrial, commercial,
and residential facilities;
(3) property acquired or constructed with grants or other
Federal assistance may be exposed to risk of loss through floods,
thus frustrating the purpose for which such assistance was
extended;
(4) Federal instrumentalities insure or otherwise provide
financial protection to banking and credit institutions whose
assets include a substantial number of mortgage loans and other
indebtedness secured by property exposed to loss and damage from
floods and mudslides;
(5) the Nation cannot afford the tragic losses of life caused
annually by flood occurrences, nor the increasing losses of
property suffered by flood victims, most of whom are still
inadequately compensated despite the provision of costly disaster
relief benefits; and
(6) it is in the public interest for persons already living in
flood-prone areas to have both an opportunity to purchase flood
insurance and access to more adequate limits of coverage, so that
they will be indemnified, for their losses in the event of future
flood disasters.
(b) The purpose of this Act, therefore, is to -
(1) substantially increase the limits of coverage authorized
under the national flood insurance program;
(2) provide for the expeditious identification of, and the
dissemination of information concerning, flood-prone areas;
(3) require States or local communities, as a condition of
future Federal financial assistance, to participate in the flood
insurance program and to adopt adequate flood plan ordinances
with effective enforcement provisions consistent with Federal
standards to reduce or avoid future flood losses; and
(4) require the purchase of flood insurance by property owners
who are being assisted by Federal programs or by federally
supervised, regulated, or insured agencies or institutions in the
acquisition or improvement of land or facilities located or to be
located in identified areas having special flood hazards.