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Allows communities to approve ecosystem restoration projects in regulatory floodways even if those projects raise the base flood elevation, subject to limits and conditions. It exempts requesters from paying FEMA review or processing fees for flood insurance map (FIRM) change requests tied to such restoration projects and requires FEMA to issue implementing guidance within 180 days after enactment. Sets conditions for approval: a professional engineer must show cumulative increases are limited (generally to 1 foot unless FEMA sets another threshold), no insurable structures or critical infrastructure may be adversely affected, and the community must file an analysis of changed conditions with FEMA within 180 days after project completion. It also preserves prior landowner notification procedures and makes a technical table-of-contents change to the underlying statute.
The bill makes it easier and cheaper for communities to pursue ecosystem restoration and provides faster, clearer FEMA oversight — but it risks raising flood elevations that can increase insurance costs and flood exposure for homeowners and place administrative and financial burdens on local governments and taxpayers.
Local governments and rural communities can carry out ecosystem restoration projects that improve floodplains (including some that raise base flood elevations), enabling natural flood mitigation and habitat restoration that were previously constrained by mapping rules.
Local and state governments and project sponsors no longer have to pay FEMA review or processing fees for requests to change Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) based on qualifying restoration projects, reducing upfront costs of pursuing restoration.
Local and state governments, and FEMA, will operate under clearer oversight and timelines because projects must include engineering determinations and post-project analyses within 180 days and FEMA must issue implementing guidance after consulting resource agencies within 180 days, improving accountability and speeding implementation.
Homeowners in areas where restoration projects raise base flood elevations could face higher flood insurance premiums or new insurance requirements if maps change upward.
Homeowners and nearby infrastructure owners (including utilities and energy companies) could experience increased flood risk if projects are allowed to raise base flood elevations up to one foot (or another Administrator-set threshold), potentially shifting flood impacts onto neighboring properties.
Local and state governments will incur administrative and engineering costs to demonstrate no adverse impacts and to prepare required analyses within the 180-day timeframe, increasing local workload and expenses.
Introduced May 1, 2025 by Patty Murray · Last progress May 1, 2025