State lawmakers will hold a hearing today to see if they can bring relief to thousands of Massachusetts homeowners and businesses facing a dramatic rise in flood insurance rates under new federal law and a redrawing of flood lines by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
House Bill 865 would have the state insurance commissioner investigate how rates are set by the National Flood Insurance program and make suggestions to ensure that rates are not excessive.
State Rep. Jim Cantwell introduced the bill because of FEMA's decision to redraw flood lines and because the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 will do away with the grandfathering of properties that used old flood-risk data.
"This is the most significant fiscal threat to coastal communities and inland communities that have water running through them because rates in some instances are quadrupling," said Cantwell (D-Marshfield).
Kerry Bogdan, senior engineer at FEMA, said the agency updated its maps for every coastal community in Massachusetts because "key updates to engineering and modelling approaches were not accounted for in the 1980s maps."
Her explanation comes as little solace to Mitch Haddad of Haddad's Ocean Cafe in Marshfield, who said he and his brother rebuilt their restaurant last year 2 feet above the then-required elevation at a cost of $3.3 million, only to learn six weeks ago that the new required elevation is another 3 feet higher.
"It's just insane," Haddad said. "We tried to be proactive. ... We certainly could have built it another 3 feet higher."
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