Bill would scrap FEMA's Nassau flood maps

The Federal Emergency Management Agency would have to scrap its controversial 2009 flood map for parts of southwest Nassau County and develop a new model for the region under a proposal in the U.S. Senate.

The measure, introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), would require FEMA to produce new maps for Valley Stream and parts of the Town of Hempstead -- where 25,000 homes were placed in a flood map two years ago -- within a year of the bill's passage.

The provision was added to the 2011 Flood Insurance Reauthorization and Modernization Act, which cleared the Senate Banking Committee Thursday. The bill, which must be voted on by the full Senate, has the support of committee chairman Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and ranking minority member Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).A version of the bill that passed the House does not include the Nassau language but aides said Schumer, a Banking Committee member, expects to be able to add it when the chambers resolve differences between the two bills.

"Residents who have been forced into new maps and have had to pay thousands in flood insurance premiums now can see some light at the end of the tunnel," Schumer said Thursday.

The 2009 flood map used information from a draft Suffolk County report. Nassau homeowners disputed the study's accuracy, arguing their neighborhoods never flood. Hempstead Town Councilman James Darcy noted that Valley Stream did not flood recently during Tropical Storm Irene.

FEMA is updating New York City's flood map and will wait until that review is done before looking again at Nassau, said Timothy Crowley, FEMA's regional director of mitigation.

After the 2009 remapping, 347 Long Island residents filed appeals challenging their homes' designations. Ninety-two appeals were approved; the rest were denied or dropped, Crowley said.Residents of the new flood zones pay a reduced flood insurance premium rate of $400 that will expire in 2013. At that point, they would be required to pay the full insurance rate -- as much as $2,000 annually -- through a four year phase-in.

The Senate bill requires FEMA to reimburse homeowners for the increased costs if they are removed from the map after the higher rates kick in.