Sponsors (4)
The bill speeds certainty for homeowners and governments by limiting FEMA deferrals on projects using fill — but that speed increases flood risk and ecological/legal conflict, potentially raising costs and harms for communities, species, and taxpayers.
Homeowners and local governments will get faster final flood map updates when fill is used, allowing quicker removal or adjustment of flood insurance requirements.
Local and state governments will obtain definitive FEMA decisions sooner, reducing uncertainty for development, permitting, and planning decisions.
Rural communities and homeowners could face increased flood risk if prohibiting deferrals accelerates projects that place fill in floodplains.
Protected species and conservation outcomes could be harmed because Fish & Wildlife and NOAA may have less time to address endangered species concerns, raising the risk of ecological damage and legal challenges.
Taxpayers, local governments, and project applicants could incur higher costs and delays from increased litigation or administrative disputes between FEMA and wildlife agencies.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits FEMA from deferring issuance of LOMRs and conditional LOMRs based on placement of fill, with the prohibition repealed once FEMA fully implements related ESA biological-opinion requirements.
Introduced June 6, 2025 by Doug Lamalfa · Last progress June 6, 2025
Prohibits FEMA from deferring issuance of letters of map revision (LOMRs) and conditional LOMRs when those revisions are based on placement of fill; it keeps FEMA’s existing substantive review process in place. The prohibition automatically sunsets when FEMA “fully implements” requirements contained in biological opinions issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries under the Endangered Species Act regarding LOMRs that rely on placement of fill. The change affects how flood map changes tied to placing fill are handled administratively: FEMA would be barred from delaying the issuance of those map revisions on that ground, at least until the agency completes ESA-related implementation work described in the biological opinions.