The Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA, Public Law 97-348) of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
was enacted into law by the
40th President of the United States
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
Ronald Reagan on October 18, 1982. The
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
passed this Act in order to address the many problems associated with coastal barrier development. CBRA designated various undeveloped coastal barriers, which were illustrated by a set of maps adopted by law, to be included in the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS). These designated areas were made ineligible for both direct and indirect federal expenditures and financial assistance, which are believed to encourage development of fragile, high-risk, and ecologically sensitive coastal barriers.
CBRA was originally authored by U.S. Representative Thomas B. Evans, Jr. and Senator
John Chafee
John Lester Hubbard Chafee ( ; October 22, 1922 – October 24, 1999) was an American politician and officer in the United States Marine Corps. A member of the Republican Party (United States), he served as the 66th Governor of Rhode Island, as ...
, who kept three objectives in mind: 1) to minimize the loss of human life by discouraging development in high risk areas vulnerable to storm surges and hurricane winds; 2) to reduce wasteful expenditure of federal resources; and 3) to protect the natural resources associated with undeveloped coastal barriers.
Undeveloped coastal barriers
Coastal barriers are landscape features that protect the mainland,
lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...
s,
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...
s and salt marshes from the full force of wind, wave and
tidal energy
Tidal power or tidal energy is harnessed by converting energy from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity using various methods.
Although not yet widely used, tidal energy has the potential for future electricity generation. Ti ...
. “Undeveloped coastal barriers” are defined by the CBRA to include
barrier islands, bars,
spits, and
tombolo
A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island becom ...
s, along with associated aquatic habitats, such as adjacent
estuaries
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environmen ...
and
wetlands. Composed of sand and other loose sediments, these elongated, narrow landforms are dynamic ecosystems and are vulnerable to hurricane damage and shoreline recession. Coastal barriers also provide important habitat for a variety of wildlife, and are an important recreational resource.
The Coastal Barrier Resources Reauthorization Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-514) provided specifications for determining if an area was undeveloped at the time it was included within the CBRS, and ordered the development of a Digital Mapping Pilot Project for between 50 and 75 CBRS areas for the purpose of information precision and accessibility. If some portion of a barrier landform is developed, the remaining undeveloped portion may be included in the CBRS.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Role
The
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the ma ...
, through the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...
(Service), was named the primary authority in the implementation of this Act, and may approve the use of subsidies for such uses as emergency assistance, national security, navigability, fish and wildlife research, and energy exploration.
Other Service responsibilities for administrating the CBRA include:
• Maintaining the official maps of the CBRS and providing copies for public viewing at USFWS headquarters, regional, and field office locations;
• Maintaining the administrative record for each CBRS unit;
• Consulting with federal agencies to determine whether federal funds may be spent within designated CBRS areas;
• Determining whether properties lay within CBRS boundaries;
• Reviewing and modifying the CBRS every five years to reflect geomorphic changes such as erosion and accretion; and
• Working with Congress, landowners, and other interested parties when questions concerning the correct application of CBRS boundaries
Designated and Protected Areas
Initially, CBRA consisted of 186 units totaling of shoreline and of undeveloped, unprotected coastal barriers on the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
and
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
coasts. Shortly following its enactment, Congress passed the Great Lakes Coastal Barrier Act (Public Law 100-707), which required the
Secretary of the Interior to identify additional System units along the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...
. The Secretary identified and recommended for inclusion in the System 112 Great Lakes units totaling .
The Act was amended in 1990 by the Coastal Barrier Improvement Act (CBIA, Public Law 101-591) to include the designation of otherwise protected areas (OPAs), which applies to the national, state and local areas that include coastal barriers held for conservation or recreation. Examples of OPAs include
National Wildlife Refuges,
national parks
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...
and
seashores,
state parks, and lands owned by private organizations for conservation purposes.
The CBIA expanded existing CBRS units, and created new units and OPAs along the Great Lakes,
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, the
Florida Keys, the
U.S. Virgin Islands, and secondary barriers within large embayments. Additionally, CBIA required the Secretary to prepare a report on
Pacific Coast coastal barriers. This report has never been submitted to the Congress, and no Pacific coast barrier units have been included in the System.
The CBRS currently includes 585 System units, which add up to approximately of land and associated aquatic habitat. Additionally, there are 271 OPAs, which comprise nearly of land and associated aquatic habitat, which are protected by CBRA. CBRS areas now extend along the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Great Lakes.
Modification of boundaries
According to the Act, only Congress has the power to modify boundaries of the CBRS through legislation. The one exception to this rule is a five-year review of the CBRS conducted by the Service that modifies boundaries only to reflect changes due to natural processes such as accretion and erosion. Since the establishment of the CBRS in 1982, several pieces of legislation have removed land from the CBRS, making it available to federal subsidies for development.
Congress determined the initial CBRS units in 1982, and modified and expanded the CBRS in 1990. Subsequent modifications to the CBRS have since been made via Congressional action. If a technical mapping error warranting a change in any single part of the CBRS map is found by the Service, all adjacent areas must be reviewed to ensure the map’s accuracy. This is a comprehensive approach to map revisions that treats all landowners who may be affected equitably, and ensures that Congress will not have to remap the same area in the future. While this may be an extensive process, it allows the Service to uphold the integrity of the entire CBRS by looking at boundary revisions in a holistic manner instead of pursuing incremental fixes for individual areas on a single map.
Map modernization
On April 7, 2009, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) released to the public its Report to Congress: John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System Digital Mapping Pilot Project and announced the start of a 90-day public comment period. The report, which was directed by the Coastal Barrier Resources Reauthorization Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-514), highlights the benefits of updating Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS) maps with more accurate and precise digital maps to better protect people, coastal areas and natural resources. The report includes draft revised maps for 70 units, or approximately 10 percent of the entire CBRS, and a framework for modernizing the remainder of the maps. The 70 pilot project units are located in Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. On June 29, 2009, the Service announced a 30-day extension of the public comment period. The public comment period closed on August 5, 2009.
Accomplishments
Since limiting federally subsidized development on designated coastal barriers, CBRA has managed to save federal dollars, protect humans by keeping them out of the path of deadly storm surges, and conserve valuable coastal habitat for fish and other wildlife.
Since its enactment, CBRA has been promoted as a fiscally conservative, free-market approach to encourage coastal conservation. In no way does the Act regulate how individuals develop their land on and around areas of coastal barrier. Instead, it directs that federal dollars not be spent for development purposes on designated coastal barriers. Therefore, the full cost of development and rebuilding is transferred from American taxpayers to the individuals who choose to live and build in such hazard-prone areas.
An economic study conducted by the USFWS in 2002 estimated that by 2010, CBRA will have saved American taxpayers nearly $1.3 billion by restricting federal spending for roads, wastewater systems, potable water supply, and disaster relief.
Sources
US Fish and Wildlife Service: LegislationUS Fish and Wildlife Service: Coastal Barrier Resource System
References
{{Reflist
External links
CBRS MapsCBRS Digital BoundariesDigital Mapping Pilot Project ReportDigital Mapping Pilot Project Draft Maps
1982 in law
1982 in the environment
97th United States Congress
United States federal environmental legislation
Barrier islands of the United States
United States Fish and Wildlife Service