Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Mar 5, 2013
Fire Damaged Home Rebuilding Act of 2013 - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to allow local variances for certain residential structures.
Prohibits certain land use and control measures from being deemed inadequate or inconsistent with land management criteria for participation in the flood insurance program because such measures authorize granting a variance for a residential structure located in a covered area and that is substantially damaged by fire.
Prohibits the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from either suspending a community from participation in the national flood insurance program, or placing it on probation, because its land use and control measures provide for such a variance.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Read full official summaryShow less
Defines such variance as one granted by an appropriate official of the community from compliance with such land use and control measures and permits repair and restoration of such structure to its pre-damaged condition without elevation of the structure.
Requires the official to have made specified determinations as a prerequisite to granting such a variance.
Requires chargeable flood insurance premium rates for a residential structure granted such a variance to equal, after repair and restoration, the rates which would have been applicable if the structure had not been substantially damaged, repaired, and restored under the variance.
Source last updated: Aug 12, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze H.R.968 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine H.R.968 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine H.R.968 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine H.R.968 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.