The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) and the Coastal States Organization (CSO), through support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Institute for Water Resources, have partnered to highlight coastal program successes in managing sediment resources and elevate effective regional sediment management policies in the national spotlight.
Regional Sediment Management (RSM) integrates watershed and shoreline management, using a systems approach to sand management to, among other purposes, minimize erosion, maximize shoreline accretion, enhance coastal ecosystems, and more efficiently use state and federal funds through efficient use of sediment in a coastal region.
Many states and federal agencies have prioritized implementation of RSM principles and are increasingly pursuing Beneficial Use of Dredged Materials (BUDM) opportunities, recognizing the cost savings and beneficial ecological outcomes these projects make possible. But challenges still remain. This project, funded by USACE Institute for Water Resources, aims to focus on the perceived challenge of conflicting state and federal policies and regulations around how dredged sediment can be used beneficially.
ASBPA and CSO is working with coastal states, USACE, and key partners to conduct a comparative policy analysis of state BUDM policies and develop recommendations and best practices through expert interviews and regional practitioner workshops. Workshop participants benefit from peer-to-peer information sharing and strategic engagement with Federal and NGO partners.
To conduct this study, ASBPA and CSO are:
- Conducting interviews with state coastal management programs about BUDM policies, regulations, and practices,
- Hosting regional workshops with practitioners to share, promote, and understand BUDM implementation challenges, opportunities, and success stories,
- Distributing a white paper to summarize the findings of workshops and interviews, and
- Drafting a final report that will include results from items 1-3 highlighting states most effective regulations and practices to overcome policy and other hurdles to BUDM.