Congress may renew authorization for the National FloodInsurance Program to keep operating without adopting any reforms, aranking federal official told state lawmakers.

Edward Pasterick, a senior aide in the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency's mitigation unit, said federal legislators maysimply renew the existing program--which is due to expire on Sept.30--and delay a decision on making changes.

Mr. Pasterick, addressing last week's meeting of the NationalConference of Insurance Legislators here, said it is entirelypossible Congress could decide to "just extend the current programand defer action on any other policies."

One of the problems that must be dealt with, he said, iscustomers who pay less than the actuarial rate for coverage, alsoknown as the subsidy issue. "We are moving slowly on that becauseit could affect a lot of people in rather adverse ways," hesaid.

The second issue is the $17.3 billion loan the NFIP hasoutstanding with the Treasury--most of it stemming from payinglosses from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.

He said the agency generates an estimated $2.6 billion inpremiums annually but paid $176 million in interest to the Treasuryin 2006, $718 million in 2007, and expects to pay $734 million thisyear.

Waxing sardonic, Mr. Pasterick suggested the strong-arm tacticsdisplayed by a fictional television Mafia gang might have to beemployed, saying that a "plan to pay back that borrowing, or even adent in it, will probably have to involve the Sopranos family."

He noted that the agency looked at reinsurance in the 1990s asan alternative to borrowing from the Treasury, but the governmentOffice of Management and Budget nixed that, saying the NFIP gets afar better deal from the Treasury.

The problem with borrowing from the Treasury, he said, is thatafter awhile "you are going to get treated like a deadbeatbrother-in-law."

One of the reform measures under consideration, S.2284, callsfor forgiving the debt in exchange for extension of a pilot programenabling the NFIP to better deal with severe repetitive lossstructures that have incurred flood damage on more than oneoccasion.

The legislation was passed on Oct. 17 but has been held up byLouisiana's senators, who fear the mandate to charge actuarialrates on properties that have suffered more than one loss wouldmake the program unaffordable to many Louisiana residents.