Dec. 13, 2011

Contact: Ken or Kate Gooderham, ASBPA executive directors -- (239) 489-2616
Harry Simmons, ASBPA president -- (910) 200-7867

Time to throw federal beach projects a lifeline

Congressional action needed to address expiring authorizations

Many coastal communities can't imagine becoming a federally authorized beach project, a very rigorous and lengthy process to navigate. However, some landmark beach areas soon may have to imagine losing that hard-won federal status after decades of successful beach management -- thanks to a "Catch 22" budget policy that creates a difficult and time-consuming process to extend the existing authorization.

Let's start at the beginning... which in this instance is 1965, when the first federal Hurricane and Storm Damage Reduction project (to use the federal nomenclature) for Carolina Beach, NC, was authorized by Congress for 50 years. This authorization allowed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to launch studies of the potential coastal erosion problem in this order:

• A Reconnaissance Report, which documents existing conditions and possible solutions, and establishes whether there is a federal interest in the project. If the project passes this barrier, it moves to...
• A Feasibility Study, to determine whether the proposed project is environmentally acceptable and economically justified. This results in a recommended plan, which then leads to...
• An Appropriations Request, which requires Congressional approval of any federal funds being spent on the proposed project (which cannot exceed 65% of the project cost and rarely reach 50%, with state and local funds making up the balance).

As you might imagine, none of this proceeds with great haste -- meaning it can take a project years (even decades) just to make it to the end of the feasibility phase. That doesn't get you a federal project, it just gets you back to Congress for the major funding request needed to construct the project.

So, while 50 years sounds like a long time to most of us, for the federal process it's far less so... and that means that a number of federal projects authorized in the mid-1960s to mid-1970s (when more project "starts" were being OK'd by Congress) are coming up on their 50-year expiration dates. These projects include well-known coastal areas in Florida, New York, Georgia and North Carolina.

However, current federal budget policy requires projects seeking to maintain their federal fiscal participation to undergo up to three new "starts" to hang on to their federal status... at a time when such new "starts" simply aren't being considered by Congress. If this policy doesn't change, federal participation to protect some of our country's most iconic coastal areas will cease.

A proposal is circulating to offer these projects an alternative -- not a free ride, but a way for the Corps to formally work with these communities to determine whether this project continues to be viable, necessary and in the federal interest. This work would be undertaken before the current authorization expires, so that prudent federal participation could continue uninterrupted while still staying within the strict guidelines established by the Corps and the Congressional appropriations process.

This is no guarantee that federal participation will continue; in fact, some communities may decide the strings attached to federal funding work against the long-term needs of their project, since funding is often so piecemeal and uncertain. But this option offers communities and the Corps a way to fairly assess the current federal projects that have navigated the complicated authorization process without stranding them in an untenable "Catch 22" limbo of pursuing a new "start" that has no chance of approval.

How Washington handles this situation also has an impact on whether the federal government will play any coordinated role in coastal projects into the future... because if current federal projects can't make it through the existing system, what chance do those areas who aspire to federal assistance for their coastal management realistically have?

This federal shutdown of authorized coastal projects would leave many areas of the country out in the cold for federal funding -- not because they weren't worthy and could not make a case that federal participation was justified, but only because their erosion problems started too late to qualify for federal help. The need or the justification haven't changed, just the rules of the game to potentially pay for them.

Giving the Corps the means to review the current federally authorized projects would not only be fair to those coastal communities -- it would be a vote of confidence that Washington will continue to play a role in protecting our coastline all around the country now and in the future. That's a message many coastal areas would like to hear.

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Some federal storm damage reduction projects nearing the end of their 50-year authorization:

If you have a federally authorized project in your area, check with local coastal officials to find out when it was originally authorized by a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) to determine when its 50-year authorization is due to expire.

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ABOUT ASBPA: Founded in 1926, the ASBPA promotes the integration of science, policies and actions that maintain, protect and enhance the coasts of America. For more information on ASBPA, go to www.asbpa.org, facebook or www.twitter.com/asbpa.