Flood plain management

The Secretary shall not include in the benefit base for justifying Federal flood damage reduction projects— In calculating the benefits of a proposed project for nonstructural flood damage reduction, the Secretary shall calculate the benefits of the nonstructural project using methods similar to those used for calculating the benefits of structural projects, including similar treatment in calculating the benefits from losses avoided. In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary should avoid double counting of benefits. For the purposes of subsection (a), a county is substantially located within the 100-year flood plain— Not later than January 1, 1992, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a report on the feasibility and advisability of increasing the non-Federal share of costs for new projects in areas where new or substantially improved structures and other constrictions are built or placed in the 100-year flood plain or the 10-year flood plain, as the case may be, after the initial date of the affected governmental unit’s entry into the regular program of the national flood insurance program of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 [42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.]. Not later than 6 months after the date on which a report is transmitted to Congress under subsection (c), the Secretary, in consultation with the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall issue regulations to implement subsection (a). Such regulations shall define key terms, such as new or substantially improved structure, constriction, 10-year flood plain, and 100-year flood plain. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any project, or separable element thereof, for which a final report of the Chief of Engineers has been forwarded to the Secretary before the last day of the 6-month period beginning on the date on which regulations are issued pursuant to subsection (a) but not later than July 1, 1993.