On this episode of The Capitol Beach, Derek Brockbank interviews the three co-executive directors of the US Coastal Research Program (USCRP): Julie Rosati with US Army Corps of Engineers, Hilary Stockdon with US Geological Survey, and Nicole Elko with American Shore & Beach Preservation Association. On the podcast, you’ll hear why 11 federal agencies (from…
On this episode of The Capitol Beach, Derek Brockbank interviews Representative Garret Graves. Rep. Graves has a long history working for coastal restoration and resilience, most notably in leading Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and currently as Congressman. On the podcast, he talks about new laws that allow FEMA money to be spent on Army…
2018 Year in Review ASBPA’s 2018 Government Affairs agenda continued to focus on three main areas: 1) Federal Funding, including advocating for funding for coastal projects and coastal research, and changing policies and authorities to allow federal funding to be used for coastal resilience; 2) Expediting coastal projects through more efficient permitting and better integration…
Despite the fury Hurricane Florence unleashed along the coastline of the Carolinas, areas with wide sandy beaches and high dunes fared well in the face of an unprecedented onslaught of storm surge and waves. Although the coastline suffered significant erosion, restored beaches accomplished their design purpose of protecting upland properties and communities. While communities are…
Congress passes a $89 billion disaster response bill with funding for coastal restoration and research. Disaster Response Bill Early in the morning of February 9th, Congress passed HR 1892, legislation that set two year spending limits (“budget cap”), lifted the debt ceiling, and allowed for a short-term continuing resolution to fund the government for six…
ASBPA’s 2017 Government Affairs agenda continued to focus on three main areas: Federal Funding, including advocating for funding for coastal projects and coastal research; and changing policies to allow coastal projects to include their full range of benefits in benefit-cost-ratios and thereby compete better for federal funding. Improved permitting and regulatory, including expediting Endangered Species…
As the United States weathers our worst hurricane season in years, and communities in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Island and the Atlantic seaboard try to recover, ASBPA is working to ensure that beaches, dunes, wetlands and coastal resilience are included in whatever emergency funding bill Congress develops. Most of the destruction from Hurricanes…
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma were, and continue to be, life-changing events for millions of Americans. These coastal storms brought devastation far beyond waterfront homes, reminding us that the coastal flood zone can range miles inland. As communities throughout the impacted coastal zone begin to recover and rebuild, their focus should be on building back better…
Some thoughts inspired by Hurricane Matthew: Coastal recovery and research already well under way. Almost as soon as the winds and waves subsided, coastal managers were heading to the coast to assess the damages and weigh a response. In almost every post-storm community, coastal managers are looking at the damage (or lack thereof), calculating the…
Hurricane Matthew poses a major threat to the U.S. southeast coast, thanks to its strength, breadth and forecast duration traversing the Atlantic coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina (as of current predictions). Projected to approach the southeast Florida coast as a Category 4 storm, forecasts show it moving northward in close proximity to the…