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Wildfire mitigation bill stalls in Senate as insurer withdrawals persist
FAIR Plan exposure in California rose from about $50 billion in 2018 to $458 billion in 2024 as private carriers pulled back, while policy non-renewals exceeded 2.8 million in fire-prone ZIP codes from 2020 to 2025.
A bipartisan wildfire mitigation bill that targets upstream conditions driving catastrophic fire risk has cleared the House and a Senate committee but stalled before a full Senate vote, leaving insurers and brokers exposed to worsening coverage constraints in fire-prone markets, according to Insurance Business.
The legislation, the Fix Our Forests Act, S. 1462, passed the House in January 2025 by a vote of 279 to 141, and the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the Senate version 18 to 5 in October 2025. The American Property Casualty Insurance Association, or APCIA, urged Senate leaders to act, warning that the delay carries direct costs for brokers placing homeowners and property coverage where wildfire risk is elevated.
S. 1462 would expedite environmental reviews for forest management projects and streamline federal permitting for hazardous fuels reduction. It also proposes a Wildfire Intelligence Center to coordinate 12 federal agencies, along with a community wildfire risk reduction program and a technology testbed aimed at accelerating detection tools, Insurance Business reported.
The pressure on the insurance system has intensified as private carriers retreat from high-risk areas. California's insurer of last resort, the FAIR Plan, saw total insured exposure climb from roughly $50 billion in 2018 to $458 billion in 2024, while insurers non-renewed more than 2.8 million homeowners policies in fire-prone ZIP codes between 2020 and 2025, according to Insurance Business, citing Triple-I and the California Department of Insurance.
APCIA and other organizations argue the bill is increasingly urgent nationwide as wildfire activity expands beyond California, with Triple-I reporting more than 35,000 fires burning over three million acres in the first half of 2026, far above 10-year averages, and with record activity in states including Florida, Georgia, and Nebraska.