Please, let's shed some crocodile tears for the citizens ofLouisiana.

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These citizens, as well as politicians in the state, have beenat the forefront of the recent effort to substantively roll backNational Flood Insurance Program rate increases imposed by the 2012law, the Biggert-Waters Act.

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The law allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency toincrease fees over time as a means of bringing revenues andexpenditures in line. Currently, the program owes the federalgovernment $30.4 billion.

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At an April meeting of Plaquemines County, La. residents, oneperson charged, “It's criminal what they are doing to us. If wehave to, we will file a class-action lawsuit to stop FEMA fromkilling our parish.”

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During the debate on a House vote on an amendment that woulddelay the rate increases for at least a year, Rep.Bill Cassidy, R-La., who is running for the Senate seat heldby Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said, “The potentially cripplingimpact to homeowners across the country should be corrected, andthis amendment is the first step in accomplishing this.

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“We all understand the need to reform a broken program, but notat the cost of families losing their homes and banks going intodefault,” he said.

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The vote on the amendment was overwhelming, 281-146.

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An industry lobbyist who has dealt with NFIP issues for severalyears saw a cruel irony in the amendment. “As I recall,Biggert-Waters got 407 votes when it passed the House. So, ineffect, nearly three-quarters of the members who voted for it lessthan a year ago are now ready to abandon the premium increases thatthey were touting as 'urgently needed' at the time.”

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A FEMA advisory to Write Your Own companies noted thatflood-insurance policies protecting properties in very high riskcoastal areas could see premiums in excess of $20,000 “in rarecases.”

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But after a meeting earlier this month with FEMA officials,residents of two Louisiana counties were told that Louisianaparishes will be among the first to see local levees included inthe redrawing of flood maps.

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This stems from another provision of the 2012 law, whichmandates that NFIP customers who live behind levees will be legallyexempt from paying NFIP premiums if they are required by mortgageholders.

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“Inclusion of levees and other flood-protection systems couldsave homeowners in low-lying areas thousands of dollars as FEMAcontinues its overhaul of the National Flood Insurance Program andflood maps used to determine flood insurance rates,” a localperiodical says in writing about the FEMA meeting.

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In other words, the number of NFIP customers impacted by therate hikes will likely be minimal. And these ratepayers will bepeople who have had rates grandfathered going back as far as 1969,when flood maps were first authorized.

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Others impacted will be people in zones where there is high riskof flooding, and for businesses and owners of second homes whoserates have been subsidized, some for many years.

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Still, despite the limited impact, citizens and legislatorsmaintain their objections.

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Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.— ranking minority member of theHouse Financial Services Committee, and a named sponsor of the 2012legislation that reformed the NFIP—was among the supporters of theamendment to delay rate increases.

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Commenting on the righteous indignation voiced by Waters andothers that reflects on the current dysfunctional Congress, ananonymous FEMA official who has intimate knowledge of the NFIPobserved:

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“It is interesting that Maxine Waters is part of this effort.What she's saying is, 'Whoops, we didn't know what the hell we weredoing with B-W.

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“Let's try this again. Let's make sure we don't talk to anybodywho knows how the program works, though, because we're liable toget it right this time. Then what are we going to do?”

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The source added, “I don't mind them kicking us around. Ijust wish they knew why they were doing it.”

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At the time the bill was passed, all members of the Louisianadelegation supported it.

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However, when the legislation passed, members of the Louisianadelegation—and the Mississippi delegation, which is also up inarms—were not paying any attention to the Biggert-Waters bill.

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They were paying much more attention to another provision that,like the Biggert-Waters legislation, was attached to the largertransportation bill under consideration: “The Resources andEcosystems Sustainability, Tourism Opportunities and RevivedEconomy of the Gulf Coast Act.”

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That provision, engineered by Landrieu, mandates that 80 percentof the fines that British Petroleum is forced to pay because of the2010 drilling rig explosion and subsequent oil spill should be sentto Gulf Coast states to use.

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Until Friday, it was difficult to calculate the potential valueof the Restore Act to the Gulf states, predominately Louisiana andMississippi. However a New YorkTimes story—where BP aired its concerns that it was beingtaken to the cleaners on claims for damages by Gulf Coastbusinesses and individuals harmed by the 2010 disaster—indicates BPcould face as much as $14 billion in penalties depending on howmuch oil flooded into the Gulf and how much blame is apportioned toBP and the contractors.

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That means that the Gulf states could gain as much as $11.2billion to use as their politicians please.

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This, after the U.S. government spent more than $200 billion topay for damages, as well as building appropriate levees, in theaftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

The hurricanes also resulted in massive costs to privateinsurers and costs that led to a more than $20 billion deficit forthe NFIP—providing momentum for what would become the 2012reforms.