FEMA examines insurance plan for floodplains

Development near flood-prone Puget Sound rivers could face significant new restrictions aimed at protecting salmon and orcas.

In an unusual decision that could have national ramifications, the federal agency in charge of protecting the animals says the federal flood-insurance program encourages destructive development near Puget Sound rivers, and needs to change.

The insurance program is a linchpin of development in floodplains around the country, providing relatively low-cost insurance for property owners living in flood-prone areas. That includes more than 700 square miles of land in counties around Puget Sound.

But the National Marine Fisheries Service last week quietly completed a report saying the program risks violating the federal Endangered Species Act. It does that by paving the way for construction that hurts Puget Sound chinook and steelhead, Hood Canal summer chum, and Puget Sound orcas that feed on salmon, the agency found.

To remedy it, the fisheries agency called for wide-ranging reforms limiting development in floodplains and discouraging local governments from relying on levees and dikes to force rivers to stay in their banks.

The report, known as a biological opinion, carries significant legal weight. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which runs the insurance program, issued a news release saying it's reviewing the report, but didn't commit to implementing all the changes.

"We will work together with communities to continue protecting Puget Sound-region residents from floods, while reducing our ecological footprint," Acting FEMA Regional Administrator Dennis Hunsinger said in a statement.

Counties and cities would be risking lawsuits for killing salmon if they don't take the fishery agency's advice, warned Jan Hasselman, an attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice. Local governments write development regulations that make property owners eligible for the flood insurance.

"For jurisdictions that are already being responsible with development standards in sensitive areas, this might not have a very big impact," said Hasselman. "For others, who continue to allow sprawl in floodplains and riparian areas, this will have a very significant impact."

But Mike Pattison, with the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, worried the reforms could create more red tape — inflexible rules that create more problems for landowners, but not more environmental protection.

"I see peril ahead," he said.

The flood-insurance program has long been a target of environmentalists, who complain that it subsidizes development in sensitive areas. The National Wildlife Federation won a federal lawsuit forcing FEMA to seek the review from the fisheries service.

Floodplain development can restrict the natural ebb and flow of rivers, disrupting the creation of fish habitat, putting more pollution into the water and creating more intense floods.

The fisheries service estimated that in the long run, floodplain development under the insurance program could reduce the chinook available for endangered Puget Sound orcas to eat by as much as 30 percent.

To address the problem and avoid breaking the law, the fisheries service said local governments should consider a moratorium on floodplain development until they reform their regulations.

Reforms would include barring further floodplain development in counties around Puget Sound, or allowing development only if there is no increase in flood levels or damage to the floodplain that could hurt salmon habitat, the agency said.

A retired veteran FEMA official, who worked in the flood-insurance program since 1973, said such requirements would mean less floodplain development.

"It comes about as close as you can to saying, 'Look, you can't build out there. But if you are going to build out there you can't make it any worse,' " said Carl Cook, who retired in 2007 as head of the division that oversaw the flood-insurance program in the Northwest, including Washington.

That's fine by Cook. He said many people within the agency are troubled by the development allowed under the insurance program.

It could also create pressure for a nationwide review of the insurance program. Experts could recall one other case where the flood-insurance program has been found at odds with endangered species.

"If it's salmon in the Northwest, if it's key deer in Florida, what else is it in other parts of the nation?" said Larry Larson, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers.

Warren Cornwall: 206-464-2311 or wcornwall@seattletimes.com