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Exempts specific National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) administrative actions from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation requirement and orders the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries to withdraw any existing ESA section 7(a)(2) biological opinions that evaluate NFIP impacts, declaring those withdrawn opinions void and barring their reissuance. It also amends a provision in the National Flood Insurance Act (42 U.S.C. 4102(c)), though the exact inserted language is not provided in the text excerpt. The bill directs a 30-day deadline for withdrawal of covered biological opinions and identifies which NFIP statutory actions are exempt from ESA consultation. No new funding, specific program deadlines (other than the 30-day withdrawal), or detailed regulatory language are included in the excerpt, leaving some implementation details and legal impacts uncertain and likely to prompt litigation or administrative dispute.
The bill expedites certain NFIP actions and reduces regulatory delays for homeowners, agencies, and project sponsors by removing ESA consultation requirements, but does so by weakening endangered-species protections and agency oversight—raising ecosystem, public-health, and long-term fiscal risks.
Homeowners in flood-prone areas would receive faster NFIP administrative actions because ESA consultation requirements are removed for specified NFIP activities.
FEMA, insurers, and local governments would face reduced regulatory delays and administrative burdens for NFIP-related decisions, enabling quicker insurance determinations and potentially faster post-flood recovery for affected communities.
NFIP project sponsors and federal implementers would face less litigation risk and regulatory uncertainty because removal of certain ESA consultations and judicially reviewable biological opinions limits grounds for legal challenges.
Fish and other threatened species near floodplains would lose Endangered Species Act §7(a)(2) protections for NFIP-related actions, increasing risks to biodiversity and ecosystem health.
Communities and homeowners near floodplains would face greater flood-related environmental harms and public-health risks if critical species and habitat protections are removed, potentially worsening flood impacts and water-quality threats.
State and local governments and the public would lose oversight because the provision undermines the Fish & Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries' statutory roles by removing judicially reviewable biological opinions and limiting agency review.
Introduced March 9, 2026 by Cliff Bentz · Last progress March 9, 2026