Flood Insurance Amendments (S. 1523). The vote is on the Eagleton amendment to once again allow federally-insured banks to make loans for building on flood hazard areas that refused to participate in the federal flood insurance program. The program was designed to discourage irresponsible new floodplain development. It required local communities to map their floodplains, zone against new construction in the most flood prone areas, and adopt other safety measures. The government's main sanction for implementing this program was the restriction on loans that this amendment removes. Without it environmentalists feared that communities would drop out of the program, seek federally-insured financing for new construction and then yell for disaster relief when the floods hit . The amendment prohibited giving relief under such circumstances, but it is neither humane nor politically realistic to expect the government to deny relief to disaster victims. Environmentalists opposed the Eagleton amendment because it encourages floodplain development that paves over the richest farmland, increases flood damage, and creates pressure to build more dams. Adopted 49-36; June 7, 1977. No is the correct vote.