Sponsors (5)
Allows limited local variances for agricultural structures in flood zones, sets related premium rules, and authorizes an optional umbrella flood insurance policy for multi‑structure properties.
The bill makes it easier and cheaper for agricultural owners to build and for various property owners to buy consolidated flood coverage while preserving community NFIP access, but it increases flood risk for some structures and raises potential costs and fiscal exposure for the NFIP and certain policyholders.
Farmers and agricultural property owners in floodplains can build or repair agricultural structures without required elevation or dry‑floodproofing when officials find those measures impracticable, lowering upfront construction and repair costs for those landowners.
Communities that grant targeted variances for agricultural structures will not be suspended or placed on probation from the National Flood Insurance Program solely for offering those variances, preserving local access to NFIP coverage and federal disaster assistance.
Homeowners, owners of multiple structures, multifamily rental owners, and agricultural property owners can optionally purchase consolidated/umbrella flood policies that cover multiple structures or property types, simplifying coverage administration and improving insurance availability for these property classes.
Farmers and rural communities whose agricultural structures receive variances may face higher flood risk and greater potential for damage because those structures can remain unelevated or unfloodproofed.
Taxpayers and the NFIP could face increased claims exposure and solvency pressure if more at‑risk agricultural structures remain unprotected, raising the financial burden on the insurance pool.
Some property owners (including farmers, homeowners, and small-business-owners) may pay higher insurance costs because either risk‑based rates could apply to varianced agricultural structures or optional umbrella policies are required to be priced at or above NFIP estimated premiums.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Official title: To increase the availability of flood insurance for agricultural structures, and for other purposes.
Introduced November 7, 2025 by Doug Lamalfa · Last progress November 7, 2025
Allows certain agricultural structures in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) to qualify for local variances that waive elevation or dry‑floodproofing when specified conditions are met, and requires FEMA to charge those structures actuarial premiums equivalent to dry‑floodproofed rates. It also authorizes FEMA to offer an optional umbrella flood insurance policy for properties with multiple structures (commercial, residential, multifamily, and agricultural) and requires a 5‑year report to Congress on implementation. The bill changes National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) community participation rules by protecting communities that adopt specified agricultural variances from suspension or probation, sets procedural safeguards and claims‑history limits for variance eligibility, and requires FEMA to make optional multi‑structure umbrella coverage available at renewal and new application with chargeable rates no less than estimated premiums under current law.