Development and Environmental Impact of the National Flood Insurance Program: A Summary Research Report

摘要

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is meant to provide individuals with insurance against flood loss, diminish future flood loss through federal, state and local government mitigation, to reduce the loss of life and property due to floods, and federal expenditures for flood disaster assistance and control. The NFIP has also promoted improved property construction standards, better community floodplain management, greater public safety and other national benefits. The NFIP currently underwrites over 5 million policies in about 20,000 communities with a total coverage of approximately over one trillion in 2006. Since its inception in 1968, a controversy has existed concerning the extent to which the NFIP encourages or accelerates floodplain development and creates adverse environmental consequences inconsistent with the mandates of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Executive Order 11988 (Floodplain Management). Existing research has produced inconsistent, sometimes contradictory conclusions about the role of the NFIP in floodplain development and its conservation.