835 



deem appropriate. 



■ (2) No individual designated pursuant to a con- 

 tract under this section to certify payments shall, 

 in the absence of gross negligence or intent to de- 

 fraud the United States, be liable with respect to 

 any payment certified by him under this section. 



(3) No officer disbursing funds shall in the ab- 

 sence of gross negligence or intent to defraud the 

 United States, be liable with respect to any payment 

 by him under this section if it was based upon a 

 voucher signed by an individual designated to certify 

 payments as provided in paragraph (2) of this sub- 

 section. 



(f) Term of contract; renewals; termination. 



Any contract entered into under this section shall 

 be for a term of one year, and may be made auto- 

 matically renewable from term to term in the ab- 

 sence of notice by either party of an intention to 

 terminate at the end of the current term; except 

 that the Secretary may terminate any such contract 

 at any time (after reasonable notice to the pool, 

 company, or organization involved) if he finds that 

 the F>ool, company, or organization has failed sub- 

 stantially to carry out the contract, or is carrying 

 out the contract in a rrjanner inconsistent with the 

 efficient and effective administration of the flood in- 

 surance program authorized under this chapter. 

 (Pub. L. 90^48, title XIH, § 1346, Aug. 1, 1968, 82 

 Stat. 585.) 



§ 4083. Settlement of claims; arbitration. 



(a) The Secretary is authorized to make final set- 

 tlement of any claims or demands which may arise 

 as a result of any financial transactions which he is 

 authorized to carry out under this subchapter, and 

 may, to assist him in making any such settlement, 

 refer any disputes relating to such claims or demands 

 to arbitration, with the consent of the parties con- 

 cerned. 



(b) Such arbitration shall be advisory in nature, 

 and any award, decision, or recommendation which 

 may be made shall become final only upon the ap- 

 proval of the Secretary. (Pub. L. 90-448, title XHI, 

 § 1347, Aug. 1, 1968, 82 Stat. 586.) 



§ 4084. Records and audits. 



(a) The flood insurance pool formed or otherwise 

 created under part A of this subchapter, and any in- 

 surance company or other private organization ex- 

 ecuting any contract, agreement, or other appropri- 

 ate arrangement with the Secretary under part B 

 of this subchapter or this part, shall keep such rec- 

 ords as the Secretary shall prescribe, including rec- 

 ords which fully disclose the total costs of the pro- 

 gram undertaken or the services being rendered, and 

 such other records as will facilitate an effective 

 audit. 



(b) The Secretary and the Comptroller General 

 of the United States, or any of their duly authorized 

 representatives, shall have access for the purpose of 

 audit and examination to any books, documents, 

 papers, and records of the pool and any such in- 

 surance company or other private organization that 

 are pertinent to the costs of the program under- 

 taken or the services being rendered. (Pub. L. 90-448, 

 title xni, § 1348, Aug. 1, 1968, 82 Stat. 586.) 



SUBCHAPTER in.— COORDINATION OF FLOOD 

 INSURANCE WITH LAND-MANAGEMENT PRO- 

 GRAMS IN FLOOD-PRONE AREAS 



§ 4101. Identification of flood-prone areas. 



(,a) Publication of information; establishment of flood- 

 risk zones; estimates of flood-caused loss. 



The Secretary is authorized to consult with, receive 

 information from, and enter into any agreements 

 or other arrangements with the Secretaries of the 

 Army, the Interior. Agriculture, and Commerce, the 

 Tennessee Vallev Authority, and the heads of other 

 Federal departments or agencies, on a reimburse- 

 ment basis, or with the head of any State or local 

 agency, or enter into contracts with any persons or 

 private firms, in order that he may — 



(1) identify and publish information with re- 

 spect to all flood plain areas, including coastal 

 areas located In the United States, which has 

 special floor hazards, within five years following 

 August 1, 1968. and 



(2) establish flood-risk zones In all such areas, 

 and make estimates with respect to the rates of 

 probable flood-caused loss for the various flood- 

 risk zon?s for each of these areas, within fifteen 

 years following such date. 



(b) Accelerated identification of flond-risk zones; au- 

 thority of Secretary: grants, technical assistance, 

 transactions, and nayments. 

 The Secretary is directed to accelerate the Identi- 

 fication of risk zones within fiood-prone and mud- 

 slide-prone areas, as provided by subsection (a) (2) 

 of this section, in order to make known the degree 

 of hazard within each such zone at the earliest pos- 

 sible date. To accomplish this objective, the Secre- 

 tary is authorized, without regard to section 529 

 of Title 31 and section 5 of Title 41, to make grants, 

 provide technical assistance, and enter into con- 

 tracts, cooperative agreements, or other transactions, 

 on such terms as he may deem appropriate, or 

 consent to modifications thereof, and to make ad- 

 vance or progress payments in connection therewith. 



(c) Priority in allocation of mai>powcr and other avail- 

 able resources for identification and mapping ot 

 flood haznrd areas and flood-risk zones. 

 The Secretary of Defense (through the Army 

 Corps of Engineers), the Secretary of the Interior 

 (through the United States Geological Survey) , the 

 Secretary of Agriculture (through the Soil Conrerva- 

 tion Service), the Secretary of Commerce (through 

 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- 

 tion), the head of the Tennessee Valley Authority, 

 and the heads of all other Federal agencies engaged 

 in the identification or delineation of fiood-risk zones 

 within the several States shall, in consultation with 

 the Secretary, give the highest practicable priority 

 In the allocation of available manpower and other 

 available resources to the identification and mapping 

 of fiood hazard areas and flood-risk zones, in order 

 to assist the Secretary to meet the deadline estab- 

 lished by this section. (As amended Pub. L. 93-234, 

 title n, § 204, Dec. 31, 1973, 87 Stat. 983.) 



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