IB 
Union Calendar No. 489 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7462 
[Report No. 118–589] 
To require the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study regarding 
insurance coverage for damages from wildfires, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 26, 2024 
Ms. WATERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Financial Services 
JULY 18, 2024 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 26, 2024] 
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A BILL 
To require the Government Accountability Office to conduct 
a study regarding insurance coverage for damages from 
wildfires, and for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wildfire Insurance Cov-
erage Study Act of 2024’’. 
SEC. 2. GAO STUDY REGARDING INSURANCE FOR WILDFIRE 
DAMAGE . 
(a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 
States, in consultation with the Director of the Federal In-
surance Office and State insurance regulators, shall conduct 
a study to analyze and determine the following: 
(1) RISK ASSESSMENT.—The extent and nature 
of wildfire risk in the United States, including— 
(A) identifying trends in declarations for 
wildfires under the Fire Management Assistance 
grant program under section 420 of the Robert 
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As-
sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5187), with respect to ge-
ography, costs, probability, and frequency of 
wildfire disasters; 
(B) identifying mitigation practices that 
would assist in reducing costs and risks for in-
surance policies covering damages from wildfires; 
(C) identifying existing programs of the 
Federal Government and State governments that 
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measure wildfire risk and assess their effective-
ness in forecasting wildfire events and informing 
wildfire response; and 
(D) analyzing and assessing the need for a 
national map for measuring and quantifying 
wildfire risk. 
(2) EXISTING STATE OF COVERAGE.—With re-
spect to the existing state of homeowners insurance 
coverage and commercial property insurance coverage 
for damage from wildfires in the United States— 
(A) the extent to which private insurers 
have, during the 10-year period ending on the 
date of the enactment of this Act, adjusted rates, 
policyholder cost-sharing provisions, or both for 
such coverage (after adjusting for inflation) and 
the geographic areas in which adjusted rates, 
policyholder cost-sharing, or both have increased; 
(B) the extent to which private insurers 
have, during the 10-year period ending on the 
date of the enactment of this Act, declined to 
renew policies for such coverages and the geo-
graphic areas to which such declinations ap-
plied; 
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(C) the events and economic factors that 
have contributed to any such increased rates and 
declinations to renew policies; 
(D) in cases in which private insurers have 
curtailed their overall wildfire exposure, the ex-
tent to which homeowners insurance coverage 
and commercial property coverage were termi-
nated altogether and the extent to which such 
coverages are still offered but with coverage for 
damage from wildfires excluded; and 
(E) the extent to which, and circumstances 
under which, private insurers are continuing to 
provide coverage for damage from wildfires— 
(i) in general; 
(ii) subject to a condition that mitiga-
tion activities are taken, such as hardening 
of properties and landscaping against 
wildfires, by property owners, State or local 
governments, park or forest authorities, or 
other land management authorities; and 
(iii) subject to any other conditions. 
(3) REGULATORY RESPONSES.—With respect to 
actions taken by State insurance regulatory agencies 
in response to increased premium rates, policyholder 
cost-sharing, or both for coverage for damage from 
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wildfires or exclusion of such coverage from home-
owners insurance policies— 
(A) the extent to which States have lever-
aged their respective authorities to regulate rate 
increases; 
(B) the extent to which States have enacted 
any moratoria on such rate and policyholder 
cost-sharing increases or exclusions and on non- 
renewals; 
(C) the extent to which States require home-
owners insurance coverage to include coverage 
for damage from wildfires or make sales of home-
owners insurance coverage contingent on the sale, 
underwriting, or financing of separate wildfire 
coverage in the State; 
(D) the extent to which States have estab-
lished State residual market insurance entities, 
reinsurance programs, or similar mechanisms 
for coverage of damages from wildfires; 
(E) any other actions States or localities 
have taken in response to increased premium 
rates, policyholder cost-sharing, or both for cov-
erage for damage from wildfires or exclusion of 
such coverage from homeowners policies, includ-
ing forestry and wildfire management policies 
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and subsidies for premiums and cost-sharing for 
wildfire coverage; 
(F) the effects of actions taken by States on 
the availability, coverage level, and affordability 
of homeowners insurance coverage; and 
(G) the effectiveness and sustainability of 
such actions taken by States. 
(4) CHALLENGES IN UNDERWRITING WILDFIRE 
RISK.—With respect to the challenges faced by private 
insurers underwriting wildfire risk, what is or are— 
(A) the correlated risks and the extent of 
such risks; 
(B) the factors affecting the extent of private 
insurers’ ability to estimate magnitude of future 
likelihood of wildfires and of expected damages 
from wildfires; 
(C) the effects of the need to increase more 
affordable housing options, which may contribute 
to increased homebuilding in more remote, heav-
ily-wooded areas with higher wildfire risk; 
(D) the potential for wildfire losses suffi-
ciently large to jeopardize insurers’ solvency; 
(E) the extent to which, and areas in which, 
risk-adjusted market premiums for wildfire risk 
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limit affordability or availability of coverage for 
consumers; 
(F) the effects of various existing and poten-
tial State and Federal Government responses to 
help address these challenges and mitigate wild-
fire risk, including actions such as— 
(i) improved forest management poli-
cies; 
(ii) improved data to estimate risk; 
(iii) relocating homeowners from wild-
fire zones; 
(iv) offsetting a portion of insurers’ 
charged 
risk-adjusted 
premiums 
with 
means-tested government affordability pro-
grams for lower income homeowners; 
(v) encouraging the increased use of 
private reinsurance and other risk-sharing 
mechanisms by insurers to better diversify 
wildfire risk; and 
(vi) developing programs that offset the 
costs of wildfire risk for consumers and in-
dustry; 
(G) the available policy responses if private 
insurers exit the wildfire coverage market and 
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the potential advantages and disadvantages of 
each such response; 
(H) the effects of the availability and af-
fordability of wildfire coverage, policyholder cost- 
sharing, or both, on— 
(i) local communities that are dis-
proportionately vulnerable to wildfires, in-
cluding on low- or moderate-income prop-
erty owners and small businesses; 
(ii) rebuilding in communities pre-
viously damaged by wildfires; 
(iii) the availability and affordability 
of housing supply; and 
(iv) the demand for wildfire insurance 
coverage by property owners; 
(I) the effects of potential State prohibitions 
on termination of policies due to wildfire claims 
on insurer solvency; and 
(J) the manner in which private insurers 
are modeling or estimating future wildfire risk. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than the expiration of the 12- 
month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the Congress 
a report identifying the findings and conclusions of the 
study conducted pursuant to subsection (a). 
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Union Calendar No. 489 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7462 
[Report No. 118–589] 
A BILL 
To require the Government Accountability Office to 
conduct a study regarding insurance coverage for 
damages from wildfires, and for other purposes. 
JULY 18, 2024 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:24 Jul 18, 2024
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PO 00000
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