Flood insurance fees waived for wetland and floodplain restoration projects
S. 1564 — Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act · Filed by Patty Murray (D-WA) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced May 1, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill amends federal flood insurance law to exempt ecosystem restoration projects from certain fees and regulatory restrictions. Specifically, it waives the fees that communities normally pay to request flood insurance map changes when those changes result from environmental restoration work, and allows communities to permit restoration projects in floodways that slightly raise flood levels (up to 1 foot) without triggering conditional insurance approval, provided no structures are harmed and the community reports results within 180 days.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is to remove fees and conditional-approval requirements for ecosystem restoration projects in floodplains. It is a targeted deregulatory measure, but one that reduces barriers to environmental restoration rather than weakening environmental protections — the safeguards (no structure harm, elevation cap, post-project reporting) remain intact.
What the text implies
- The 1-foot elevation increase threshold is set by the bill but can be adjusted by the FEMA Administrator, creating potential for future regulatory drift without new legislation.
- The bill requires post-project reporting within 180 days but does not specify enforcement mechanisms or consequences for non-compliance, leaving implementation details to FEMA guidance.
- By exempting ecosystem projects from fee requirements, the bill may reduce revenue to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), though the fiscal impact is likely modest given the narrow scope of eligible projects.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens benefit from restored floodplains and wetlands, which provide natural flood protection, water quality improvement, and habitat value. The bill removes cost and procedural barriers to these projects without creating new risks — it explicitly protects structures and critical infrastructure and requires post-project reporting. Communities and environmental agencies gain flexibility to pursue restoration at lower cost.
Who stands to gain
- State and federal natural resource agencies (reduced project costs)
- Environmental nonprofits and contractors performing restoration work (lower barriers to project appr
Named in the bill
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014, National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), State natural resource agencies, Federal natural resource agencies
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- May 1, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- May 1, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs”
- Sep 30, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent”
- Sep 30, 2026 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
6 lobbying clients named this bill on 6 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Mar 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $2,417,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 35 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 82% of bills with at least one filing.
Patty Murray, the sponsor, reported $307,200 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Mortgage Bankers Association — $1,220,000 on 1 filing
- Nature Conservancy — $900,000 on 1 filing
- American Rivers Action Fund — $120,000 on 1 filing
- Trout Unlimited — $120,000 on 1 filing
- Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership — $50,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,192 characters) on Aug 29, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Mar 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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