WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King has filed an amendment to the Homeowners Flood Insurance Affordability Act that would make communities eligible for reimbursement from the government for the costs of successfully appealing inaccurate flood maps.

As current law stands, when FEMA locates a home incorrectly on a flood map, a homeowner can appeal the error in order to avoid paying the associated higher premium, and if successful, is then eligible for reimbursement by the government for the costs incurred during the appeals process. Often times, however, entire communities or municipalities appeal a mapping process or result. Unlike an individual homeowner, though, communities as a whole are not eligible for reimbursement and thereby are left to pay for the costs of an appeal process themselves.

The amendment filed by Senator King would alter current law to mandate that communities are also eligible for reimbursement for the costs of successfully appealing bad mapping procedures or results.

“It's simply unfair to force local communities to bear the financial burden of an appeals process they would have never had to undergo if the maps had been accurate from the outset,” Senator King said. “When the consequences are so costly for homeowners and communities, FEMA should get the science right from the start, and in cases when it doesn't, communities should never have to foot the bill for a successful challenge. My common-sense amendment would give affected communities in Maine the same reimbursement rights that are already in-place for individual homeowners under current law. 

In 2009, the cities of Portland and South Portland, among several other municipalities, successfully challenged FEMA flood-map designations. Several communities are already preparing appeals based on the same methodology that those towns successfully applied, and under Senator King's proposal, they would be eligible for reimbursement if FEMA accepts their appeals.

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