ASBPA Speaks at Senate Hearing

On September 18th, ASBPA Executive Director, Derek Brockbank, testified before the U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) committee in the hearing, “Improving American Economic Competitiveness through Water Resources Infrastructure.”

ASBPA explained the value of healthy beaches, dunes and wetlands to our coast, and spoke about how the Senate EPW Committee can support healthy coastlines:

1. Advancing Regional Sediment Management (RSM) and the Beneficial Use of Dredged Material (BUDM), by calculating the full cost of disposing of dredged material without using it beneficially, and requiring each U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) district to produce an annual 5-year “sediment management” plan;
2. A modification of the USACE Benefit-Cost-Ratio (BCR) process to calculate the full value of Natural Infrastructure flood risk management projects;
3. Oversight of the USACE’s efforts to “Revolutionize“ their culture and project delivery;
4. Oversight over the Office of Management & Budget‘s under-funding and delaying coastal projects.

Read ASBPA’s Full Written Testimony (PDF 528kb).

Read ASBPA’s Letter to EPW on WRDA 2020 (PDF 282kb)

Watch Derek Brockbank’s Oral Testimony:

Derek’s Testimony begins at 44:26