TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Jan. 16, 2013) — As Florida lawmakers once again prepare to take up property insurance reform in the upcoming legislative session,  a new report from the R Street Institute suggests bipartisan consensus can be reached to restrict insurance subsidies in areas where they threaten to damage Florida’s coastal environment and destroy natural storm barriers.

The report from R Street Florida Director Christian R. Cámara proposes Florida legislation modeled on the 30-year-old federal Coastal Barrier Resources Act. Signed by President Ronald Reagan, the CBRA restricts federally subsidized beach nourishment, infrastructure construction and coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program in undeveloped wetlands and barrier islands along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, as well as undeveloped coastal barriers along the Florida Keys, Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In addition to saving the federal government at least $1 billion between 1982 and 2010, the CBRA is estimated to have averted development – and associated harm to reefs, sea grasses, mangrove and freshwater wetlands – in a zone of 1.3 million acres of land and aquatic habitat.

Cámara proposes similar results could be realized on the state level by restricting the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. from writing coverage for new construction in areas seaward of the Coastal Construction Control Line, a line of jurisdiction defining the landward limit of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s authority to regulate coastal construction. Because Citizens’ coverage is priced at levels below that offered by the private market, restricting coverage for new construction would end subsidies to development that damages Florida’s coastal environment and destroys natural storm barriers.

“Simply put, Florida’s insurance policies have had the unintended consequences of forcing residents to indirectly subsidize irresponsible development that create massive future taxpayer liabilities, damage the state’s coastal environment and destroy natural storm barriers,” Cámara wrote.

The report, Coastal Preservation Through Citizens Reform, was released to coincide with the state Senate Banking & Insurance Committee’s Jan. 16 hearings into ways to reestablish Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. as a true residual market. A copy of the full report can be found at:

http://www.rstreet.org/policy-study/coastal-preservation-through-citizens-reform/

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