
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC4121]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
                  CHAPTER 50--NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE
 
                    SUBCHAPTER IV--GENERAL PROVISIONS
 
Sec. 4121. Definitions

    (a) As used in this chapter--
        (1) the term ``flood'' shall have such meaning as may be 
    prescribed in regulations of the Director, and may include 
    inundation from rising waters or from the overflow of streams, 
    rivers, or other bodies of water, or from tidal surges, abnormally 
    high tidal water, tidal waves, tsunamis, hurricanes, or other severe 
    storms or deluge;
        (2) the terms ``United States'' (when used in a geographic 
    sense) and ``State'' includes the several States, the District of 
    Columbia, the territories and possessions, the Commonwealth of 
    Puerto Rico, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands;
        (3) the terms ``Insurance company'', ``other insurer'' and 
    ``insurance agent or broker'' include any organizations and persons 
    authorized to engage in the insurance business under the laws of any 
    State;
        (4) the term ``insurance adjustment organization'' includes any 
    organizations and persons engaged in the business of adjusting loss 
    claims arising under insurance policies issued by any insurance 
    company or other insurer;
        (5) the term ``person'' includes any individual or group of 
    individuals, corporation, partnership, association, or any other 
    organized group of persons, including State and local governments 
    and agencies thereof;
        (6) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the Federal 
    Emergency Management Agency;
        (7) the term ``repetitive loss structure'' means a structure 
    covered by a contract for flood insurance under this chapter that 
    has incurred flood-related damage on 2 occasions during a 10-year 
    period ending on the date of the event for which a second claim is 
    made, in which the cost of repair, on the average, equaled or 
    exceeded 25 percent of the value of the structure at the time of 
    each such flood event;
        (8) the term ``Federal agency lender'' means a Federal agency 
    that makes direct loans secured by improved real estate or a mobile 
    home, to the extent such agency acts in such capacity;
        (9) the term ``Federal entity for lending regulation'' means the 
    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal 
    Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Comptroller of the Currency, the 
    Office of Thrift Supervision, the National Credit Union 
    Administration, and the Farm Credit Administration, and with respect 
    to a particular regulated lending institution means the entity 
    primarily responsible for the supervision of the institution;
        (10) the term ``improved real estate'' means real estate upon 
    which a building is located;
        (11) the term ``lender'' means a regulated lending institution 
    or Federal agency lender;
        (12) the term ``natural and beneficial floodplain functions'' 
    means--
            (A) the functions associated with the natural or relatively 
        undisturbed floodplain that (i) moderate flooding, retain flood 
        waters, reduce erosion and sedimentation, and mitigate the 
        effect of waves and storm surge from storms, and (ii) reduce 
        flood related damage; and
            (B) ancillary beneficial functions, including maintenance of 
        water quality and recharge of ground water, that reduce flood 
        related damage;

        (13) the term ``regulated lending institution'' means any bank, 
    savings and loan association, credit union, farm credit bank, 
    Federal land bank association, production credit association, or 
    similar institution subject to the supervision of a Federal entity 
    for lending regulation; and
        (14) the term ``servicer'' means the person responsible for 
    receiving any scheduled periodic payments from a borrower pursuant 
    to the terms of a loan, including amounts for taxes, insurance 
    premiums, and other charges with respect to the property securing 
    the loan, and making the payments of principal and interest and such 
    other payments with respect to the amounts received from the 
    borrower as may be required pursuant to the terms of the loan.

    (b) The term ``flood'' shall also include inundation from mudslides 
which are proximately caused by accumulations of water on or under the 
ground; and all of the provisions of this chapter shall apply with 
respect to such mud-slides in the same manner and to the same extent as 
with respect to floods described in subsection (a)(1) of this section, 
subject to and in accordance with such regulations, modifying the 
provisions of this chapter (including the provisions relating to land 
management and use) to the extent necessary to insure that they can be 
effectively so applied, as the Director may prescribe to achieve (with 
respect to such mudslides) the purposes of this chapter and the 
objectives of the program.
    (c) The term ``flood'' shall also include the collapse or subsidence 
of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of 
erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding 
anticipated cyclical levels, and all of the provisions of this chapter 
shall apply with respect to such collapse or subsidence in the same 
manner and to the same extent as with respect to floods described in 
subsection (a)(1) of this section, subject to and in accordance with 
such regulations, modifying the provisions of this chapter (including 
the provisions relating to land management and use) to the extent 
necessary to insure that they can be effectively so applied, as the 
Director may prescribe to achieve (with respect to such collapse or 
subsidence) the purposes of this chapter and the objectives of the 
program.

(Pub. L. 90-448, title XIII, Sec. 1370, Aug. 1, 1968, 82 Stat. 588; Pub. 
L. 91-152, title IV, Sec. 409(b), Dec. 24, 1969, 83 Stat. 397; Pub. L. 
93-234, title I, Secs. 107, 108(b), Dec. 31, 1973, 87 Stat. 979, 980; 
Pub. L. 98-181, title IV, Sec. 451(d)(1), (8), Nov. 30, 1983, 97 Stat. 
1229; Pub. L. 100-628, title X, Sec. 1086(b), Nov. 7, 1988, 102 Stat. 
3278; Pub. L. 103-325, title V, Sec. 512(a), Sept. 23, 1994, 108 Stat. 
2256.)

                       References in Text

    This chapter, referred to in text, is title XIII of Pub. L. 90-448, 
Aug. 1, 1968, 82 Stat. 572, as amended, known as the National Flood 
Insurance Act of 1968, which enacted this chapter, amended section 2414 
of this title, repealed sections 2401 to 2413 and 2415 to 2421 of this 
title, and enacted provisions set out as a note under section 4001 of 
this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see 
Short Title note set out under section 4001 of this title and Tables.


                               Amendments

    1994--Subsec. (a)(7) to (14). Pub. L. 103-325 added pars. (7) to 
(14).
    1988--Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 100-628 substituted ``subsection 
(a)(1) of this section'' for ``paragraph (1)''.
    1983--Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 98-181, Sec. 451(d)(1), substituted 
``Director'' for ``Secretary''.
    Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 98-181, Sec. 451(d)(8), substituted 
definition of ``Director'' as the Director of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency for definition of ``Secretary'' as the Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development.
    Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 98-181, Sec. 451(d)(1), substituted 
``Director'' for ``Secretary''.
    1973--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 93-234, Sec. 107, inserted 
``proximately'' before ``caused''.
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 93-234, Sec. 108(b), added subsec. (c).
    1969--Pub. L. 91-152 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) 
and added subsec. (b).

          Termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

    For termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, see note 
set out preceding section 1681 of Title 48, Territories and Insular 
Possessions.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in title 12 section 3305.
