proposed determination may appeal such determination to the local government. The sole basis for such appeal shall be the possession of knowledge or information indicating that elevations being proposed by the Director with respect to an identified area having special flood hazards are scientifically or technically incorrect, and the sole relief which shall be granted under the authority of this section in the event that such appeal is sustained in accordance with subsection (e) or (f) is a modification of the Director's proposed determination accordingly.

(c) Appeals by private persons shall be made to the chief executive officer of the community, or to such agency as he shall publicly designate, and shall set forth the data that tend to negate or contradict the Director's finding in such form as the chief executive officer may specify. The community shall review and consolidate all such appeals and issue a written opinion stating whether the evidence presented is sufficient to justify an appeal on behalf of such persions by the community in its own name. Whether or not the community decides to appeal the Director's determination, copies of individual appeals shall be sent to the Director as they are received by the community, and the community's appeal or a copy of its decision not to appeal shall be filed with the Director not later than ninety days after the date of the second newspaper publication of the Director's notification.

(d) In the event the Director does not receive an appeal from the community within the ninety days provided he shall consolidate and review on their own merits, in accordance with the procedures set forth in subsection (e), the appeals filed within the community by private persons and shall make such modifications of his proposed determinations as may be appropriate, taking into account the written opinion, if any, issued by the community in not supporting such appeals. The Director's decision shall be in written form, and copies thereof shall be sent both to the chief executive officer of the community and to each individual appellant.

(e) Upon appeal by any community, as provided by this section, the Director shall review and take fully into account any technical or scientific data submitted by the community that tend to negate or contradict the information upon which his proposed determination is based. The Director shall resolve such appeal by consultation with officials of the local government involved, by administrative hearing, or by submission of the conflicting data to an inde pendent scientific body or appropriate Federal agency for advice. Until the conflict in data is resolved, and the Director makes a final determination on the basis of his findings in the Federal Register, and so notifies the governing body of the community, flood insurance previously available within the community shall continue to be available, and no person shall be denied the right to purchase such insurance at chargeable rates. The Director shall make his determination within a reasonable time. The community shall be given a reasonable time after the Director's final determination in which to adopt local land use and control measures consistent with the Director's determination. The reports and other information used by the Director in making his final determination shall be made available for public inspection and shall be admissible in a

court of law in the event the community seeks judicial review as provided by this section.

(f) When, incident to any appeal under subsection (b) or (c), the owner or lessee of real property or the community, as the case may be, incurs expense in connection with the services of surveyors, engineers, or similar services, but not including legal services, in the effecting of an appeal which is successful in whole or in part, the Director shall reimburse such individual or community to an extent measured by the ratio of the successful portion of the appeal as compared to the entire appeal and applying such ratio to the reasonable value of all such services, but no reimbursement shall be made by the Director in respect to any fee or expense payment, the payment of which was agreed to be contingent upon the result of the appeal. There is authorized to be appropriated for purposes of implementing this subsection, not to exceed $250,000.

(g) Any appellant aggrieved by any final determination of the Director upon administrative appeal, as provided by this section, may appeal such determination to the United States district court for the district within which the community is located not more than sixty days after receipt of notice of such determination. The scope of review by the court shall be as provided by chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code. During the pendency of any such litigation, all final determinations of the Director shall be effective for the purposes of this title unless stayed by the court for good cause shown.

NOTICE OF FLOOD HAZARDS

SEC. 1364. Each Federal instrumentality responsible for the supervision, approval, regulation or insuring of banks, savings and loan associations, or similar institutions shall by regulation require such institutions, as a condition of making, increasing, extending, or renewing (after the expiration of thirty days following the date of the enactment of this section) any loan secured by improved real estate or a mobile home located or to be located in an area that has been identified by the Director under this title or Public Law 93234 as an area having special flood hazards, to notify the purchaser or lessee (or obtain satisfactory assurances that the seller or lessor has notified the purchaser or lessee) of such special flood hazards, in writing, a reasonable period in advance of the signing of the purchase agreement, lease, or other documents involved in the transaction.

CHAPTER IV-APPROPRIATIONS AND MISCELLANEOUS

PROVISIONS

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 1370. (a) As used in this title

(1) the term "flood" shall have such meaning as may be prescribed in regulations of the Director, and may include inundation from rising waters or from the overflow of streams, rivers, or other bodies of water, or from tidal surges, abnormally high tidal water, tidal waves, tsunamis, hurricanes, or other severe storms or deluge;

(2) the terms "United States" (when used in a geographic sense) and "State" includes the several States, the District of Columbia, the territories and possessions, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; (3) the terms "Insurance company", "other insurer” and “insurance agent or broker" include any organizations and persons authorized to engage in the insurance business under the laws of any State;

(4) the term "insurance adjustment organization" includes any organizations and persons engaged in the business of adjusting loss claims arising under insurance policies issued by any insurance company or other insurer;

(5) the term "person" includes any individual or group of individuals, corporation, partnership, association, or any other organized group of persons, including State and local governments and agencies thereof; and

(6) the term "Director" means the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

(b) The term "flood" shall also include inundation from mudslides which are proximately caused by accumulations of water on or under the ground; and all of the provisions of this title shall apply with respect to such mudslides in the same manner and to the same extent as with respect to floods described in paragraph (1), subject to and in accordance with such regulations, modifying the provisions of this title (including the provisions relating to land management and use) to the extent necessary to insure that they can be effectively so applied, as the Director may prescribe to achieve (with respect to such mudslides) the purposes of this title and the objectives of the program.

(c) The term "flood" shall also include the collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels, and all of the provisions of this title shall apply with respect to such collapse or subsidence in the same manner and to the same extent as with respect to floods described in paragraph (1), subject to and in accordance with such regulations, modifying the provisions of this title (including the provisions relating to land management and use) to the extent necessary to insure that they can be effectively so applied, as the Director may prescribe to achieve (with respect to such collapse or subsidence) the purposes of this title and the objectives of the program.

STUDIES OF OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS

SEC. 1371. (a) The Director is authorized to undertake such studies as may be necessary for the purpose of determining the extent to which insurance protection against earthquakes or any other natural disaster perils, other than flood, is not available from public or private sources, and the feasibility of such insurance protection being made available.

(b) Studies under this section shall be carried out, to the maximum extent practicable, with the cooperation of other Federal departments and agencies and State and local agencies, and the Di

rector is authorized to consult with, receive information from, and enter into any necessary agreements or other arrangements with such other Federal departments and agencies (on a reimbursement basis) and such State and local agencies.

PAYMENTS

SEC. 1372. Any payments under this title may be made (after necessary adjustment on account of previously made underpayments or overpayments) in advance or by way of reimbursement, and in such installments and on such conditions, as the Director may determine.

GOVERNMENT CORPORATION CONTROL ACT

SEC. 1373. The provisions of chapter 91 of title 31, United States Code, shall apply to the program authorized under this title to the same extent as they apply to wholly owned Government corporations.

FINALITY OF CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS

SEC. 1374. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law

(1) Any financial transaction authorized to be carried out under this title, and

(2) any payment authorized to be made or to be received in connection with any such financial transaction,

shall be final and conclusive upon all officers of the Government.

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

SEC. 1375. Any administrative expenses which may be sustained by the Federal Government in carrying out the flood insurance program authorized under this title may be paid out of appropriated funds.

APPROPRIATIONS

SEC. 1376. (a) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may from time to time be necessary to carry out this title, including sums—

(1) to cover administrative expenses authorized under section 1375;

(2) to reimburse the National Flood Insurance Fund established under section 1310 for

(A) premium equalization payments under section 1334 which have been made from such fund; and

(B) reinsurance claims paid under the excess loss reinsurance coverage provided under section 1335; and

(3) to make such other payments as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this title.

(b) All such funds shall be available without fiscal year limitation.

(c) There are authorized to be appropriated for studies under this title not to exceed $100,000,000 for the fiscal year 1977 and not to exceed $108,000,000 for the fiscal year 1978, not to exceed $114,000,000 for the fiscal year 1979, not to exceed $74,000,000 for

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the fiscal year 1980, not to exceed $61,600,000 for fiscal year 1981, not to exceed $42,600,000 for the fiscal year 1982, not to exceed $49,752,000 for the fiscal year 1984, and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 1985.

EFFECTIVE DATE

SEC. 1377. This title shall take effect one hundred and twenty days following the date of its enactment, except that the Director on the basis of a finding that conditions exist necessitating the prescribing of an additional period, may prescribe a later effective date which in no event shall be more than one hundred and eighty days following such date of enactment.

Approved August 1, 1968, 11:52 a.m.