PASSED: Murray & Daines Floodplain Bill Passes the Senate, Cutting Red Tape, Simplifying Pathway for Ecosystem Restoration

ICYMI : Murray Floodplain Bill Picks Up Dozens of Key Endorsements, Momentum Grows as Commonsense Bipartisan Legislation Is Introduced in the House Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after Senate passage of her Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act —bipartisan legislation Senator Murray introduced with Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) last year. The Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act is a straightforward, commonsense bill that would create a new pathway for ecosystem restoration projects in floodplains that meet specific low-risk criteria—simplifying the approval process for important restoration work while still upholding flood safety standards. U.S. Representatives Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D, WA-03), Troy Downing (R, MT-02), Janelle Bynum (D, OR-02), and Bryan Steil (R, WI-01), have introduced identical companion legislation in the House of Representatives. The Senate bill now needs to be passed out of the House before it can be signed into law. “This is great news for Washington state. We are one step closer to making it easier to get ecosystem restoration projects approved. This is a commonsense, zero-cost fix that will cut red tape and allow critical restoration projects in Washington state to move forward,” said Senator Murray. “Government should be making it easier to protect our environment, not harder. And here in Washington state, ensuring our waterways stay healthy is critical for not just our environment, but for our communities and economy as well. I urge my colleagues to waste no time in passing this legislation.” “This is huge news for Montana. Critical ecosystem restoration projects across our state have been abandoned due to FEMA’s onerous and costly ‘No Rise’ rule. This commonsense, bipartisan bill will reduce unnecessary burdens on important conservation and restoration work, while continuing to keep our communities safe from flooding, and I’m glad to see it pass the Senate. Next step: the U.S. House!” said Senator Daines. Background on the Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act : Under current Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) policy, any proposed development in a regulated floodway, whether it’s a shopping mall or salmon habitat, must prove that it will not increase the base flood elevation (BFE) of the area. This requirement is commonly referred to as the “No Rise” rule. While important for protecting communities from increased flood risks, it has had major unintended consequences on important environmental restoration in Washington state and across the country. In Washington state, many salmon habitat restoration projects involve placing woody debris in rivers and streams to slow water flows and create sheltered areas where juvenile salmon can develop. These projects, and many others, often fail the “No Rise” rule. Currently, the only way to address these impacts is to first update FEMA’s flood maps to account for the projected BFE impacts. This requires extensive and very expensive hydrologic and hydraulic analyses, often performed by a third-party engineer. FEMA then reviews the analyses, replicates them, and approves them internally before giving the okay to move forward, which can take several years to complete. While this process often makes sense in an urbanized, flood-prone community, it is an unnecessary exercise for restoration in rural areas. Many communities in Washington state have avoided doing restoration work in regulated floodways—which makes up much of the state—to avoid the associated costs. This bill would create a more efficient process for ecosystem restoration in regulated floodways while addressing the “No Rise” issue, which has been a priority concern for Tribal communities and conservation advocates in Washington and across the country. The following organizations have endorsed Senator Murray and Daines’ Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act : Smarter Safer Coalition; American Rivers; Association of State Floodplain Managers; National Association of Conservation Districts; The Nature Conservancy; Trout Unlimited; Bonneville Environmental Foundation; City of Kenmore; City of Sammamish; City of Seattle; Seattle Public Utilities; Environmental Policy Innovation Center; Environmental Science Center; Island County; King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks; Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe; Montana Trout Unlimited; National Wildlife Federation; Puget Sound Partnership; Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council; River Alliance of Wisconsin; Southern Environmental Law Center; Upper Deschutes Watershed Council; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Wild Salmon Center; Wisconsin Council of Trout Unlimited; Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association; Wisconsin Wetlands Association; WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council (Lake Sammamish, Lake Washington, Cedar River Watersheds); City of Shoreline; Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust; Rock River Coalition; and Clean Wisconsin. “The Puget Sound Partnership is delighted to see the Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act pass the Senate. This legislation is a tremendous step towards accelerating the pace and scale of restoration in Puget Sound and around the country. For too long, critical salmon habitat restoration projects that had no impact on human infrastructure were obligated to complete the same costly hydraulic and hydrologic analyses as subdivisions and strip malls—a process that caused years of delay and millions of dollars of cost increases. Thanks to Senator Murray’s leadership and persistence, this bill will provide local governments with the flexibility they need to get restoration projects done faster and more cheaply. On to the House!” said Mindy Roberts, Executive Director of the Puget Sound Partnership. “Healthier floodplains are a win-win for people and nature. They can reduce flood risks, improve water quality and provide important habitat for fish and other wildlife,” said Cameron Adams, Policy Advisor for The Nature Conservancy. “The Nature Conservancy applauds the Senate for passing the Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act , which will give communities the flexibility they want and need to scale up science-backed floodplain restoration. We commend Senators Murray and Daines for their attention to this critical issue and strongly support the full passage of FERA into law.” “In the face of extreme weather and increasing pressures on our nation’s rivers, we need to maximize investments in natural infrastructure and streamline projects that strengthen community resilience, protect public health, and keep our rivers healthy,” said Eileen Shader, Senior Advisor for American Rivers Action Fund. “The Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act is a smart, common-sense step forward to ensuring the regulatory process is efficient and cost-effective. We commend the bipartisan leadership of Senators Murray and Daines advancing this bill and urge the House to take action to pass the bill before the end of the 119th Congress.” Senator Murray has been a champion for protecting and strengthening critical salmon and fish populations throughout her time in the Senate. Senator Murray secured a historic $2.85 billion investment in salmon and ecosystem restoration programs—including $400 million for a new community-based restoration program focused on removing fish passage barriers in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law —and in the Inflation Reduction Act , Murray secured hundreds of millions for Washington state priorities including $15 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund , $3 million to support facilities at the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary , $27 million for Pacific salmon research, and more. As Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Murray has protected critical funding for salmon recovery projects in the Fiscal Year 2026 government spending bills she negotiated and passed into law, including: $75.75 million for the Pacific Salmon account at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), a $750,000 increase over FY25 funding levels; $27.5 million for Mitchell Act salmon hatcheries, a $4 million increase, to help raise salmon and steelhead for release in the Columbia River Basin for harvest and conservation purposes; $65 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, which the Trump administration proposed eliminating this program altogether in their budget request; $28 million in NOAA construction funds for critical improvements and upgrades at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle; $1 million for the Northwest Straits Initiative; $1.5 million for management, intervention, and mitigation of invasive European Green Crab, and more. The text of the Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act is available HERE . ###