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October 8, 2019
Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina. Courtesy: National Park Service
Over the past four decades, the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA; P.L. 92-583) has provided a framework for managing coastal resources. The CZMA was passed to address a number of problems facing coastal zones, including overpopulation, pollution, and diminishing coastal access. The Act declared that it is national policy to “preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, to restore or enhance the resources of the Nation’s coastal zone for this and succeeding generations.”
The coastal zone is the area where coastal waters meet the shore and it provides copious ecosystem services. To protect these resources, the CZMA established the National Coastal Zone Management Program and the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NEERS). As a result of these programs, 34 of the 35 coastal states and territories have created comprehensive plans to manage coastal resources and increase resilience.
Today, many problems still threaten the nation’s coastal zones—coastal cities are likely to experience extreme storms, catastrophic flooding, and some even run the risk of being completely lost due to sea level rise. Currently, two bills being considered by the House of Representatives seek to make amendments to the CZMA to further improve coastal resilience.
Coastal State Climate Preparedness Act of 2019 (H.R. 3541)
On September 25th, the Coastal State Climate Preparedness Act of 2019 (H.R. 3541) was approved by the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, and will be voted on by the House. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA) introduced the bill, which aims to “amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a coastal climate adaptation preparedness and response team.” The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL), and Delegate Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-Mariana Islands).
The Coastal State Climate Preparedness Act of 2019 (H.R. 3541) would also create a voluntary program in which coastal states create plans and prepare for the negative effects of climate change. As stated in the bill, this would include identification of coastal areas likely to be impacted by climate change, adaptive management strategies for land and ocean ecosystems, and long-term monitoring of environmental changes. Additionally, the program would create grants to assist states with their climate change adaptation plans.
According to a statement by Anne Merwin, Ocean Conservancy’s Senior Director for Conservation Policy and Programs, “this bill recognizes the importance of making investments in adaptive management strategies for ocean-based ecosystems and resources to ensure our coasts’ continued well-being.”
Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act (H.R. 3596)
Another bill, Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act (H.R. 3596), would “amend the Coastal Zone Management Act to establish a Working Waterfront Task Force and a working waterfront grant program.” The Task Force would identify working waterfronts at risk of climate change impacts and fund projects to preserve and improve them. A working waterfront “provides access to coastal waters to persons engaged in commercial fishing, recreational fishing businesses, boatbuilding, aquaculture, or other water-dependent, coastal-related business.”
The bill was introduced by Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) to provide specific protections for vulnerable communities dependent on coastal-related economic activities. In Maine, over 30,000 people work in marine-related industries, yet working waterfronts have been reduced to 20 miles of Maine’s 5,300-mile coastline because of development and environmental pressures. Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act (H.R. 3596) would assist struggling waterfront communities, such as those in Maine, by providing logistic and monetary support.
On September 25th, the bill was passed by the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife to be voted on by the House. It is co-sponsored by Rep. Robert Wittman (R-VA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Rep. Harley Rouda (D-CA), Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Rep. William Keating (D-MA), Rep. Ed Case (D-HI), Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), and Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA).
Author: Savannah Bertrand
Top-Rated Climate Nonprofit – 4-Star Charity