# 119-hr-7862: National Flood Insurance Program Clarification Act of 2026

119-hr-7862, National Flood Insurance Program Clarification Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Bentz, Cliff [R-OR-2] (R-OR); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-24).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7862
- As of: 2026-10-24
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-7862
- Congress: 119
- Title: National Flood Insurance Program Clarification Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-03-09
- Sponsor: Rep. Bentz, Cliff [R-OR-2] (R-OR)
- Cosponsors: 4
- Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-24

## Summary

**Exempts specified National Flood Insurance Program actions from Endangered Species Act review.** It would also require withdrawal of existing federal biological opinions that evaluated the NFIP and narrow local floodplain rules to protecting property and human health. - Families and property owners: NFIP activities listed in the bill would face less ESA-driven regulatory review, which could speed agency actions tied to flood insurance and floodplain management. - Environmental groups and endangered species: Forcible withdrawal of prior Section 7(a)(2) biological opinions would remove existing federal assessments of NFIP impacts and reduce ESA oversight tied to those opinions. - Local governments and land managers: New language limits local measures to the sole purpose of protecting property and human health and adds the literal text "<all>", narrowing the objectives local rules can pursue.

## Cosponsors (4)

- Rep. Letlow, Julia [R-LA-5] (R-LA), 2026-10-22T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Harrigan, Pat [R-NC-10] (R-NC), 2026-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Weber, Randy K. Sr. [R-TX-14] (R-TX), 2026-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gallagher, James [R-CA-1] (R-CA), 2026-09-10T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Flood insurance skips species review: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would say Section 7(a) of the Endangered Species Act would not apply to certain actions by the national flood insurance program administrator. Those actions would include work under sections 1305(c), 1306, 1360, 1361(c), 1363 of the National Flood Insurance Act and section 1002…
- Limits on local flood rules: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would change the rules about local land‑management measures used under the national flood insurance program. It would add that those local measures must be for the sole purpose of protecting property and human health. This would take effect upon enactment. The change would limi…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9250: Great American Outdoors Act 250
- 119-hconres-12: Supporting the Local Radio Freedom Act.
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-7: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025
- 119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-7862 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7862)

## Related
- [119-hr-9250: Great American Outdoors Act 250](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9250)
- [119-hconres-12: Supporting the Local Radio Freedom Act.](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hconres-12)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-7: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7)
- [119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3514)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7862 (as of 2026-10-24).