Senators move to eliminate longstanding roadblock to emergency agency's work: 'It's a common-sense approach'

A new bipartisan bill could make it much easier — and faster — to bring life back to degraded floodplains across the country.

Sens. Patty Murray of Washington and Steve Daines of Montana introduced the Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act, which would simplify the approval process for ecosystem restoration projects in regulated floodplains. The bill targets outdated Federal Emergency Management Agency policies that have made it difficult and expensive to carry out low-risk conservation work in these areas.

"Government should be making it easier to protect our environment, not harder. I am proud to be a partner to the many Tribes and advocates in Washington state that have been pushing for the Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act," Murray said.

Currently, FEMA's No Rise rule requires any project — whether it's a strip mall or a salmon habitat — to prove it won't increase flood levels, even by a fraction of an inch. That makes sense in urban areas, but it's blocked much-needed environmental efforts in remote or low-risk regions. In fact, some restoration work, including placing logs in waterways to help young salmon thrive, gets shelved altogether because the permitting process can take years and cost tens of thousands of dollars.

This legislation would create a streamlined path for restoration efforts that pose little to no risk to flood safety, removing unnecessary red tape without compromising public protection.

And that's good news for everyone.

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Not only can restored floodplains help communities manage floodwaters more naturally — reducing disaster risk and lowering costs — but they also support fish and wildlife habitats, improve water quality, and help stabilize ecosystems facing more extreme weather.

As Ed Johnstone of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission said, "This proposed legislation is a strong step toward removing an undue burden for these essential habitat restoration and nature-based solution projects."

Casey Sixkiller, director of the Washington State Department of Ecology, added, "It's a common-sense approach that reduces costs and delays for watershed restoration while maintaining flood safety."

Looking to the future, this bill joins other nature-forward policy efforts — including the Inflation Reduction Act, which funded $2.85 billion for ecosystem restoration — in making environmental protection easier and more accessible. It's also in step with programs such as the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund and the EPA's Puget Sound Geographic Program, which continue to invest in resilient, community-driven conservation.