HR 7862 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
National Flood Insurance Program Clarification Act of 2026
To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to limit the application of the Endangered Species Act with respect to certain actions under the national flood insurance program, and for other purposes.
Summary
The National Flood Insurance Program Clarification Act of 2026 would amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to limit the application of the Endangered Species Act to certain NFIP actions. The bill would exempt specific NFIP Administrator actions from the requirement to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA under the Endangered Species Act. The bill would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries to withdraw any existing biological opinions that evaluate the impacts of the NFIP within 30 days of enactment, and such withdrawn opinions could not be reissued. The bill would also clarify that local flood management measures covered under the NFIP must be designed for the sole purpose of protecting property and human health.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Bentz, Cliff [R-OR-2] (R-OR)
2 cosponsors
Actions (2)
- Mar 9, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. · house
- Mar 9, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 9, 2026
Mr. Bentz introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to limit the application of the Endangered Species Act with respect to certain actions under the national flood insurance program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “National Flood Insurance Program Clarification Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN ACTIONS UNDER THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM.
Section 1317 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4024) is amended—
(1) by striking “In” and inserting the following:
“(a) In General.—In”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(b) Application of Endangered Species Act.—Section 7(a) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)) shall not apply to any actions by the Administrator pursuant to sections 1305(c), 1306, 1360, 1361(c), 1363 of this title, and section 100216 of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012.
“(c) Biological Opinions Under the Endangered Species Act.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries shall withdraw any existing biological opinions under section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)) that evaluate the impacts of the national flood insurance program. Biological opinions withdrawn under this subsection shall have no effect and shall not be reissued.”.
SEC. 3. CRITERIA FOR LAND MANAGEMENT AND USE WITH RESPECT TO THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM.
Section 1361(c) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4102(c)) is amended by inserting after “local measures which” the following: “are for the sole purpose of protecting property and human health, and”. <all>
Comments