On Friday, March 23rd, the President signed the FY18 omnibus budget bill, funding the government through September. Coastal agencies finally have predictable funding for the remainder of the year after four short-term continuing resolutions in the past six months prevented them from planning or fully spending out their budgets. ASBPA had weighed in on a…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has published its request for proposals for beneficial use of dredged material pilot projects pursuant to Section 1122 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016. The USACE is looking to recommend 10 projects for the beneficial use of dredged material (BUDM) program that would allow for…
As Congress begins the process of drafting a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2018, ASBPA is working to improve the US Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) budgeting and planning process for coastal projects. ASBPA has been working with the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works and House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, to…
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…
Coastal Summit 2018 awards nominations open Nominations are now open for the ASBPA Congressional awards, Congressional Staffer award and Corps award, to be presented on March 21st at the ASBPA awards reception held during the Coastal Summit in Washington, DC, on March 20-22. The deadline is Jan. 19, 2018. Congressional awards include “Coastal Advocate” —…
As Congress heads out of DC for its August recess/district work period[1], here’s an update of where coastal FY18 appropriations stand. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) coastal appropriations. The full House of Representatives passed the Energy & Water Appropriations Bill on July 27th as part of a “mini-omnibus” that included Defense, Veterans Affairs, and…
As anyone within 50 miles of a storm-prone coast surely knows, June 1 is the start of the Atlantic hurricane season. But as we head further into July towards the heart of the season in August and September, chances that a storm might spin up in the warming waters increases. Depending on how recently a…
How many beach restoration projects have there been throughout the United States? What’s the biggest project by volume? By distance? What’s the oldest project? The newest? Which state has done the most projects? The fewest? Communities searching for information to make coastal management decisions often want to know the answers to these and more questions….
What can Congress do to protect our country’s invaluable coastal resources? First and foremost, fund coastal infrastructure. The American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) is recommending at least $5 billion over ten years to rebuild and restore our nation’s beach, dunes, wetlands and other coastal flood risk reduction infrastructure. This should include building already…