National Flood Impact Reduction and Resilience Act of 2026

Key Points

• The bill creates a new National Flood Impact Reduction and Resilience Program to cut flood deaths and property damage nationwide by coordinating federal agencies like FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA, USGS, and NIST.
• The Program will develop building standards, floodplain management guidance, and promote nature-based flood defenses like wetlands instead of relying only on walls and levees.
• Federal agencies will offer grants, contracts, and technical assistance to states and localities, and will publish new nationwide flood risk maps covering vulnerability, inundation, and historical flood events.
• An Interagency Coordinating Committee chaired by the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers will set strategy and budgets, while an outside Advisory Committee of at least 11 experts from academia, industry, and government will review the Program's progress.
• The bill does not include specific appropriations, so its real-world impact depends on future funding decisions and how quickly agencies adopt new standards.