The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) and Coastal States Organization (CSO) are pleased to share a new report, “Sediment Placement Regulations of U.S. Coastal States and Territories: Towards Regional Sediment Management Implementation.” This report, developed with support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Institute for Water Resources (IWR), provides a comparative analysis of federal- and state-level regulations on placing sediment in the coastal zone, with best practices, success stories and recommendations. The report will be useful to policymakers, regulators and managers who are seeking to increase the beneficial use of dredged material (BUDM) in their jurisdictions.
The report synthesizes national and regional policy summaries, setting out the regulatory, funding, and procedural lay of the land for BUDM projects based on input from nearly 50 subject matter expert interviews and seven regional workshops held across 2022, bringing together 250+ state and federal coastal managers and regulators and 25 presentations on BUDM success stories.
Thirty-five state profiles compile regulatory information for BUDM and sediment placement in each coastal U.S. State and Territory. Fourteen BUDM case studies highlight successful approaches that state and federal partners have taken to increase BUDM. Case studies include the North Carolina Thin Layer Project Guidance, which provides a set of BUDM project standards sufficient to meet permitting standards for three federal and four state permitting agencies. Another case study highlights the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab (SMIIL) in New Jersey, which achieves collaborative, groundbreaking research to better understand the data and science that underpin regulations.
Finally, the report shares recommendations for federal and state policymakers, regulators, and managers in the areas of a) policy and regulation, b) interagency collaboration, c) funding, d) project development and review, and e) research. Recommendations include specific federal actions, such as “collaborate with states to develop and implement Five-Year Regional Dredge Material Management Plans,” as well as options for states looking to implement best practices, such as ways to incentivize BUDM.
As coastal development intensifies and climate change impacts exacerbate coastal erosion and transform shoreline ecosystems and sediment dynamics, sediment is becoming an increasingly valuable and scarce resource. ASBPA and CSO applaud USACE for its goal “to advance the practice of BUDM to 70% by the year 2030 (“70/30 Goal”).”[1] We hope this report can immediately help coastal practitioners who seek ways to better manage coastal sediment within their jurisdiction, while also serving as a catalyst for systemic changes that allow for more comprehensive regional sediment management.
The report is available below. If you have questions or suggestions, please contact Nicole Elko, Ph.D., ASBPA Science Director, nicole.elko@asbpa.org.
[1] Spellman, Scott. “Beneficial Use of Dredged Material Command Philosophy Notice,” Letter to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jan. 25, 2023.