From The Levee was Dry, Downey Brand (Legal updates & commentary on flood risk and floodplain management) – Most people would not associate flood insurance with the protection of endangered species. But over the past decade, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been the target of multiple lawsuits alleging that the agency has violated the Endangered Species Act by not considering the impacts of its flood insurance program on endangered species and their habitat. In the latest round of litigation, a federal court in California has struck down as arbitrary and capricious an analysis by FEMA that its administration of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was not likely to adversely affect endangered or threatened species or habitat. (more)