Mitigation assistance

The Administrator shall carry out a program to provide financial assistance to States and communities, using amounts made available from the National Flood Mitigation Fund under section 4104d of this title, for planning and carrying out activities designed to reduce the risk of flood damage to structures covered under contracts for flood insurance under this chapter. Such financial assistance shall be made available— To be eligible to receive financial assistance under this section for mitigation activities, a State or community shall develop, and have approved by the Administrator, a flood risk mitigation plan (in this section referred to as a “mitigation plan”), that describes the mitigation activities to be carried out with assistance provided under this section, is consistent with the criteria established by the Administrator under section 4102 of this title, provides for reduction of flood losses to structures for which contracts for flood insurance are available under this chapter, and may be included in a multihazard mitigation plan. The mitigation plan shall be consistent with a comprehensive strategy for mitigation activities for the area affected by the mitigation plan, that has been adopted by the State or community following a public hearing. Amounts provided under this section may be used only for mitigation activities that are consistent with mitigation plans that are approved by the Administrator and identified under paragraph (4). The Administrator shall provide assistance under this section to the extent amounts are available in the National Flood Mitigation Fund pursuant to appropriation Acts, subject only to the absence of approvable mitigation plans. The Administrator may approve only mitigation activities that the Administrator determines— In making a determination under subparagraph (A), the Administrator shall take into consideration recognized ancillary benefits. Eligible activities under a mitigation plan may include— The Administrator shall consider as an eligible activity the demolition and rebuilding of properties to at least base flood elevation or greater, if required by the Administrator or if required by any State regulation or local ordinance, and in accordance with criteria established by the Administrator. The Administrator may provide grants for eligible mitigation activities as follows: In the case of mitigation activities to severe repetitive loss structures, in an amount up to— In the case of mitigation activities to repetitive loss structures, in an amount up to 90 percent of all eligible costs. In the case of all other mitigation activities, in an amount up to 75 percent of all eligible costs. If the Administrator determines that a State or community that has received mitigation assistance under this section has not carried out the mitigation activities as set forth in the mitigation plan, the Administrator shall recapture any unexpended amounts and deposit the amounts in the National Flood Mitigation Fund under section 4104d of this title. If the Administrator determines that a State or community that has received mitigation assistance under this section has not provided matching funds in the amount required under subsection (d), the Administrator shall recapture any unexpended amounts of mitigation assistance exceeding the amount of such matching funds actually provided and deposit the amounts in the National Flood Mitigation Fund under section 4104d of this title. Not later than 1 year after July 6, 2012, and biennially thereafter, the Administrator shall submit a report to the Congress describing the status of mitigation activities carried out with assistance provided under this section. For any application for a grant under this section for which the Administrator fails to make a grant award within 5 years of the date of the application, the grant application shall be considered to be denied and any funding amounts allocated for such grant applications shall remain in the National Flood Mitigation Fund under section 4104d of this title and shall be made available for grants under this section. For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: The term “community” means— a political subdivision that— The term “repetitive loss structure” has the meaning given such term in section 4121 of this title. The term “severe repetitive loss structure” means a structure that— has incurred flood-related damage—