HBA-ATS H.B. 1098 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1098 By: Bosse Land and Resource Management 3/19/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Floods are the number one natural disaster in the United States. They cause billions of dollars worth of damage to property, agriculture, and infrastructure. Because of the huge sums of money involved, the private insurance industry has found it uneconomical for it alone to make flood insurance available on reasonable terms and conditions to those in need of such protection. In response, Congress enacted the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to make available flood insurance through the coordinated efforts of the federal, state, and local government and the private insurance industry. At the state level, the Texas Legislature enacted the Flood Control and Insurance Act. The purpose of the legislation is to help Texas citizens secure flood insurance under the federal program and to encourage sound land use by minimizing exposure of property to flood losses. State law authorizes all political subdivisions to engage in flood plain management and promulgate rules to achieve that management. A county containing two or more municipalities, each of which has a population of 250,000 or more, is authorized to institute a civil action in district court to enforce its regulations. Counties that do not satisfy the population requirement cannot institute a civil action. H.B. 1098 includes a county that has a population of 2.8 million or more among the types of counties authorized to sue to restrain a person from violating or threatening to violate the Flood Control and Insurance Act and to recover a civil penalty for each violation. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 16.323(c), Water Code, to include a county that has a population of 2.8 million or more among the types of counties that may file a civil suit to restrain a person from violating or threatening to violate Subchapter I (Flood Insurance) and/or to recover a civil penalty for each violation. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.