With a major Omnibus-COVID Stimulus bill passed, Congress has averted a government shutdown and passed an FY21 federal budget. Here are the funding levels in the House and Senate appropriations and the final approved amount for some key coastal programs: (All numbers in thousands of dollars.) Energy and Water Appropriations (Includes US Army Corps of…
The federal FY21 budget is operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) through December 11. Before then, Congress must agree to a budget or the government will shut down (which certainly feels on-brand for 2020, but at this point both House and Senate would like to avoid). Adding to the challenge is the lingering question whether…
In a joint Capitol Beach and WaterLog podcast, the American Shoreline Podcast Network’s full Washington DC team, Derek Brockbank, Howard Marlowe, and Dan Ginolfi team up to provide perspective and analysis on how the election results will impact federal coastal policy and politics in 2021 and beyond, as well as in the remaining weeks of…
On the ASPN flagship show, co-hosts Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham discuss the upcoming online national coastal conference, “Navigating Stormy Times“, with ASBPA Executive Director, Derek Brockbank. They discuss how a virtual conference will work, what some of the conference highlights will be, including plenary panels on how beach communities handled the pandemic this summer…
The Senate is still considering whether and how to provide stimulus funding to state and local governments struggling with budget shortfalls due to the coronavirus pandemic. Budget shortfalls are particularly challenging for coastal and other tourism-based communities. The House of Representatives has already passed the HEROES Act to address this and other challenges of coronavirus….
ASBPA was one of just five stakeholder groups invited to provide testimony for a formal “Information-Gathering Process on Draft Legislation entitled, America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2020” by the Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee. This “information-gathering process” was in lieu of a public hearing with Congress working remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic….
Congress just passed a full FY20 budget following multiple Continuing Resolutions that extended FY19 funding levels through the fall. ASBPA was pleased to see some important increases to funding for coastal programs. Here how some of the programs in the Energy & Water (Army Corps) appropriations that ASBPA cares about will be funded in FY20…
After a late July budget deal set total budget caps for FY2020 and FY2021, Congress came back to session in September with a goal of passing appropriations bills before the September 30th end of the fiscal year. That goal seems likely to come up short, with Congress expected to pass a short term continuing resolution…
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:…
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…