The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hosted a hearing Thursday on “Examining Insurance Markets and the Role of Mitigation Policies.”

Robert Gordon, senior vice president, Policy, Research & International, American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA); Alex Epstein, president and founder, Center for Industrial Progress; Michael Newman, general counsel, Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS); and Jessica Pyska, supervisor, County of Lake, California, will be testified.

Key topics included how climate impacts insurance markets and the evaluation of mitigation strategies that could assist in stabilizing the insurance market.

Timed with the hearing, legislation related to repeatedly flooded areas is being reintroduced by Senators Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).

The bill, titled the Repeatedly Flooded Communities Preparation Act, seeks to break the cycle of repeated flooding and rebuilding by directing FEMA and local governments to reduce flood risks and provide resources to flood-prone areas.

The act requires communities that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and have been repeatedly flooded to assess the risks to areas damaged by floods, develop and implement community-specific plans for mitigating flood risks and make these plans publicly available.

It also encourages communities to develop mitigation strategies to work with FEMA to request data needed to better understand and mitigate against their risks.

The act requires FEMA to consider the extent to which a community has complied with requirements to develop and implement mitigation strategies for repeatedly flooded areas when awarding flood risk mitigation grants to those communities.

Finally, it holds communities that do not comply with these requirements accountable to encourage their participation in mitigation efforts.

“Communities in South Carolina and across the country continue to face challenges from persistent flooding. But instead of repeated rebuilding in high-risk areas, we need to ensure Americans in flood-prone communities are taking the necessary steps to improve their infrastructure and mitigation strategies. This bill will provide key resources to help Americans across the country rise above the threat of flooding,” said Chairman Scott.