Sponsors
The bill speeds FEMA's NFIP actions and reduces the risk of program-stopping biological opinions, but it does so by removing ESA Section 7 environmental review for those actions, trading faster program delivery for increased risks to species, habitats, homeowner safety, and governmental accountability.
FEMA, state and local governments, and homeowners: FEMA can carry out NFIP activities (mapping, insurance adjustments, mitigation projects) faster by avoiding ESA Section 7 consultation delays, speeding updates to flood maps and program actions.
FEMA and program administrators: Reduces the risk that stalled or vacated biological opinions will block NFIP actions or funding decisions, improving continuity and predictability of program operations and funding flows.
Endangered species, habitats, and conservation-dependent communities: Actions under the NFIP would no longer receive ESA Section 7 protections, increasing risks of species decline, extinction, and habitat degradation.
Homeowners in flood-prone areas: Loss of environmental review and natural floodplain protections tied to the ESA could worsen ecological degradation and reduce natural flood risk reduction over time, increasing property and safety risks.
State and local governments and project sponsors: Projects tied to NFIP (mapping, grants, mitigation) may face legal uncertainty and heightened public opposition without environmental review, which can delay or complicate implementation.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Exempts specified NFIP actions from ESA section 7(a) consultation and requires withdrawal of prior NFIP-related biological opinions within 30 days.
Removes the Endangered Species Act (ESA) section 7(a) consultation requirement for certain Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) actions under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and directs withdrawal of existing ESA biological opinions that evaluated NFIP impacts. The bill also includes a drafting placeholder to add language after an NFIP planning provision but supplies no substantive text for that insertion, so it makes no operative change to that provision as provided. The change takes immediate effect on enactment for the ESA exemption and requires the Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries to withdraw any prior ESA section 7(a)(2) biological opinions about the NFIP within 30 days, declaring those opinions void and unreissuable.
Introduced March 9, 2026 by Cliff Bentz · Last progress March 9, 2026