Senate passes Water Bill; would improve U.S. Coastal Resilience

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed S.2848, the Water Resource Development Act (WRDA), which includes many provisions to help protect, restore, and increase the resilience of U.S. coastlines. The bill passed 95-3, with overwhelming bipartisan support. The House of Representatives must now act for the bill to move to the President’s desk.

“Hurricane Hermine should serve as a reminder of the vulnerability of coastal communities. Although Hermine caused minimal damage, a stronger storm with just a slightly altered course could have devastated the Gulf Coast, Florida, North Carolina and the Northeast,” said Derek Brockbank, Executive Director of American Shore & Beach Preservation Association. “WRDA takes a number of important steps to reduce the risk coastal communities face from coastal hazards, and allow communities to take preventive measures – which are far cheaper than paying for recovery – to restore their coastlines and improve their resilience.”

“The Coastal States Organization commends the Senate for acting in bipartisan fashion to address the country’s coastal challenges,” comments Bradley Watson, Director of Coastal Resilience at the Coastal States Organization. “It is important that this legislation is considered and acted on each Congress given its potential to address immediate and long term challenges facing our Nation’s coasts” he concludes.

The focus of this WRDA was the authorization of 29 water infrastructure projects. This includes 7 hurricane and storm damage risk reduction projects on the coasts of South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey, Louisiana and California, as well as other coastal and inland flood risk reduction and environmental restoration projects.

In addition to authorizing projects, WRDA also establishes a number of policies and authorizes studies to help improve coastal resilience across the country. Some of these include:

• Section 2017 – Dredged Material. This section enables the beneficial use of dredged sediment by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) without being constrained by the Federal Standard. The placement of dredged sand and other sediment on beaches, dunes, and coastal wetlands can serve multiple benefits, including flood and storm risk reduction, ecological restoration, and adaptation to sea level rise. As sediment sources become increasingly scarce, managing sediment as a resource is essential for the USACE to achieve its multiple missions. This provision would allow the USACE to beneficially use sediment at federal expense if “the cost associated with the placement of the dredged material is reasonable in relation to the associated environmental, flood protection, and resiliency benefits.”
• Section 4014 – Regional Intergovernmental Collaboration on Coastal Resilience. This section authorizes “regional assessments of coastal and back bay protection and of Federal and State policies and programs related to coastal water resources.” Flood risk and coastal hazards do not follow state or USACE District lines and neither should their solutions. Furthermore, many branches of government have overlapping jurisdiction in promoting resilience to coastal hazards. This section will promote interstate, intergovernmental collaboration so that the states can have an increased role in developing solutions that are tailored to their region and federal agencies are coordinating with states and each other.
• Section 4017 – Consideration of Full Array of Measures for Coastal Risk Reduction. This section directs the Corps to consider, as appropriate, all measures for coastal risk reduction, including natural, nature-based, nonstructural, and structural measures, when developing projects for coastal risk reduction.
• Section 2008 – Beneficial Use of Dredged Material. This language allows states that are doing regional sediment management projects to more effectively use sediment dredged from federally authorized navigation projects.
• Section 1028 – Planning Assistance to States. This language allows states to jointly apply for planning and technical assistance from the USACE for coordinated inter-state efforts with regional and national importance.
• Section 4013 – Coastal Resiliency. This language directs the USACE to prioritize feasibility studies for coastal projects, including “shoreline restoration, tidal marsh restoration, [and] dunal habitats to protect coastal infrastructure,” from rising sea levels.
• Section 4015 – South Atlantic Coastal Study.  Directs the USACE to conduct a study of the coastal areas located within the geographic boundaries of the South Atlantic Division of USACE to identify the risks and vulnerabilities of those areas to increased hurricane and storm damage as a result of sea level rise. This study will also include a focus on sediment resources and coastal erosion issues.

Contact:

Derek Brockbank, ASBPA Executive Director – (202) 827-4246 or derek.brockbank@asbpa.org

Bradley Watson, CSO Counsel and Director of Coastal Resilience – (202) 508-3844 or bwatson@coastalstates.org

# # #

ASBPA Executive Director Derek Brockbank is available at (202) 827-4246 for comment, interviews or background.