WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tomorrow, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Flood Insurance Reform: A Taxpayer’s Perspective” to receive stakeholder input on a recently circulated discussion draft of legislation to reform and reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The National Wildlife Federation commends the committee on a strong first draft and encourages additional steps to promote nature-based flood protections and to discourage new development in high risk, environmentally sensitive areas.

Collin O’Mara, president and chief executive officer of the National Wildlife Federation, said today: 

“The National Wildlife Federation commends the House Financial Services Committee for taking a positive step toward reforming the National Flood Insurance Program in ways that will benefit people, communities, and wildlife. The bill balances the needs of low income homeowners and other consumers with the imperative to prepare our nation for more intense storms, sea level rise, and flooding. Our view is simple: we need to phase out subsides for building and re-building in high risk coastal areas and along our rivers and instead invest in reducing the risk to people and communities.

“This bill takes important steps towards protecting the natural environment and wildlife habitat, while discouraging risky development and protecting floodplains to reduce the flood risk to communities across the country. We also support provisions of the bill that — for the first time ever — take affordability challenges into account and helps more communities participate in the flood insurance program. By ensuring that the NFIP is within reach for lower-income communities, the reauthorization bill will help provide more people in high-risk coastal areas with more robust flood protections in the future.

“As the bill moves forwards, the National Wildlife Federation is committed to working with the committee to ensure that the final bill includes robust investment in community-wide, nature-based flood protections that will help improve the resilience of at-risk communities, as well as the floodplains, coastal forests, and tidal marshes that are home to countless species of wildlife.” 

View the testimony of the National Wildlife Federation’s Legislative Director, Joshua Saks, prepared for tomorrow’s hearing at the link below:
http://www.financialservices.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=401937