17,938 Monroe County, Florida, flood insurance policy holders are on the hook for about $896,900 in penalties thanks to FEMA. Policy holders will be charged an extra $50 “added to the premium of every new or renewed flood insurance policy sold within the county for a period of no less than one year from the effective date of probation.” FEMA put Monroe County on probation because a suit claimed that allowing flood insurance in endangered-species habitat violates the Endangered Species Act.

They are adding the surcharge because they can.

The surcharge will go into the black hole of the National Flood Insurance Fund, not to cover higher levels of flood damage, not to mitigate endangered-species habitat violations, but to “offset the extra administrative costs [at] FEMA.”