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…
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…
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 is the future of federal coastal involvement and investment with a new administration taking the reins in Washington, DC? That’s the focus of an upcoming conference focused on federal policy and regulation. This Coastal Summit, entitled “A New Commitment to Our Coast,” will be held in Washington Feb. 28-March 2, presented by the American…
In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, attention has been focused on rebuilding resilient coastal systems to reduce damage from future disasters. “Resilience” has been defined in a variety of ways; in general, resilience is having the capacity to recover or bounce back from adversity and adapt to be prepared for the future. Providing…
On Dec. 10, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed S.612, the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act” or the “WIIN Act” (also known as the Water Resource Development Act [WRDA]), which includes provisions to help protect, restore, and increase the resilience of U.S. coastlines. The bill passed the House 360-61 and the…
Coastal zone research projects around the nation will help coastal managers protect developed areas’ beach dunes, which are vital to resilient communities, ecosystems and economies. University of Pennsylvania scientists will build a wind tunnel to test the sand-capturing capability of five types of dune vegetation. Oregon State University’s model of coastal dune evolution will be…
In partnership with ASBPA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC), and the U.S. Geological Survey’s Coastal Marine Geology Program has awarded $265,672 in federal funding to directly support academic research to investigate dune management challenges on developed coasts. Each university was awarded $40,000-$50,000 for the following projects, which…
Almost four years after the devastation brought on by the landfall of Superstorm Sandy, coastal scientists and policy-makers are still working to fashion a response shaped by the lessons learned from the storm. Some of the battle is scope, particularly given Sandy’s unique size and attributes. Another factor is sound science, since gathering, analyzing and…