Bill Would Cut Flood Insurance for Farmers

Thursday, February 16, 2012 ? Leave a Comment?

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 (LID) ? Aiming to reduce farmers? costs for flood insurance, a California congressman has introduced federal legislation to provide premium subsidies to farmers in designated flood danger areas.

Garamendi

Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) said his proposal ? H.R. 4020 ? would help farmers who produce crops and raise livestock in floodplains where levees have been downgraded for not providing the required 100-year flood protection.

Levy downgrades ? resulting from studies by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ? often requires landholders to pay significantly increased premiums for flood insurance.

Additionally, structures in affected areas must meet more stringent ? and costly ? building requirements for safety, said Garamendi, a life-long rancher who served as California insurance commissioner from 1991 to 1995.

?Many farmers in my Delta community have personally asked me to help fix this problem,? Garamendi said in a statement. ?I am proud to take their voice to Washington, so American farmers have the freedom to grow their businesses and grow the products this country needs.?

The Flood Insurance for Farmers Act of 2012 would allow farmers in flood-danger areas to build or upgrade necessary agricultural structures. The legislation would allow also farmers to obtain subsidized flood insurance on existing and new agricultural structures.

Introduced Feb. 14, Garamendi?s proposal would amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The bill is cosponsored by Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.). The bill is pending before the House Committee on Financial Services.

More information on H.R. 4020 is available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr4020ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr4020ih.pdf.

Filed under Environment, Insurance, News, Top Stories ? Tagged with Agriculture, business, California, Dan Lungren, farming, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Flood insurance, H.R. 4020, insurance, John Garamendi, National Flood Insurance Act of 1968

Source: http://legalnewsgroup.com/2012/02/16/bill-cut-flood-insurance-farmers/5611

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