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Global warming is increasing the frequency and intensity of storms and associated flooding, and causing a long-term rise in sea levels, all of which are threatening America's coasts and floodplains.

Even as our coasts and floodplains become riskier environments in which to live, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is subsidizing and otherwise encouraging high-risk and damaging development in these vulnerable areas.

Indeed, there is probably no starker example of a mis-match between well-documented and understood risks associated from climate change and public policy.

We are working to help species like the endangered Key deer and change how FEMA manages America's floodplains by:

• Advocating for the Reform of Federal Floodplain Management - We're advocating for dramatic reforms to FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program and other floodplain management policies.
   
• Reforming Federal Floodplain Management through litigation - We have used the Endangered Species Act to launch a series of lawsuits challenging FEMA's administration of the NFIP. National Wildlife Federation's first case, Key Deer v. FEMA, successfully challenged FEMA's administration of flood insurance in endangered species habitat throughout the Florida Keys. In another case, NWF v. FEMA, a federal district court in Seattle agreed with NWF and found that FEMA's flood insurance program encouraged development in the Puget Sound floodplain, which harmed salmon already threatened with extinction. While FEMA has been forced to address the administration of flood insurance in the Florida Keys and Puget Sound, it has thus far refused to reform the way it administers insurance throughout the country.

Protecting Coastal Habitat in the Florida Keys

National Wildlife Federation and our affiliate, Florida Wildlife Federation, have won four ground-breaking Endangered Species Act victories in our 15 year campaign to protect coastal habitats throughout the Florida Keys.

• In 1994, the U.S. District Court in Miami found that federal flood insurance in the Florida Keys was fueling development in the habitat of the endangered Key deer. The judge ruled that FEMA was required under the Endangered Species Act to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and develop a plan to prevent the flood insurance program from jeopardizing the species.
   
• In 1997, FWS found that federal flood insurance was jeopardizing the existence of the Key deer and seven other animals and plants. FEMA and FWS came up with a proposed plan to remedy this problem - FWS would offer technical assistance to landowners.
   
• In March 2005, the court ruled that such voluntary measures did nothing to remove the jeopardy caused by flood insurance, because it allowed flood insurance to continue to promote new development in endangered species habitat unabated.
   
• In September 2005, NWF won an injunction barring FEMA from issuing flood insurance for new development in the habitats of the eight species until the agencies develops a new plan for protecting the species. The injunction applies to any new structures on undeveloped habitat lands in the Florida Keys. In April 2008, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the lower court rulings.
   

Protecting Floodplains in Puget Sound

In 2004, a federal district court in Seattle agreed with National Wildlife Federation and found that FEMA's flood insurance program encouraged floodplain development and harmed salmon already threatened with extinction. He ordered FEMA to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service ("NMFS") to ensure compliance with the Endangered Species Act.

The consultation concluded in September 2008, when NMFS issued its biological opinion finding that the National Flood Insurance Program is pushing orcas and several runs of salmon towards extinction, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. This biological opinion is expected to trigger significant improvements in the development codes applicable in cities and counties across Puget Sound, which will help reduce risks to people and wildlife. Without implementing the changes called for by NMFS, these cities and counties could lose eligibility for federal flood insurance. NWF will be carefully scrutinizing how FEMA chooses to respond to this biological opinion to ensure that damaging floodplain development does not continue to be subsidized under this federal insurance program.

Ongoing and Pending Litigation

National Wildlife Federation is involved in several other cases designed to change the way in which FEMA issues flood insurance that can undermine endangered species protections. These include:

• Salmon and Steelhead in Oregon - NWF and others filed a case against FEMA for issuing flood insurance throughout Oregon without consulting with the expert agency over impacts to threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead.
   
• Sea Turtles in Florida - In July 2010, NWF initiated a lawsuit against FEMA for issuing flood insurance throughout Florida without consulting with the expert agency over impacts to endangered sea turtles.
   
• Endangered Species in Missouri - NWF sent FEMA a 60-day notice of intent to sue letter for issuing flood insurance throughout Missouri without consulting with the expert agency over impacts to the interior least tern and pallid sturgeon.