A n 9 1 n 0 9 iv th 2 er 3 sa -2 r 0 y 1 Res earc her 3 Published by CQ Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc. CQ www.cqresearcher.com Coastal Development Is over-building putting coastal regions at risk?

uperstorm Sandy, which devastated portions of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut last October, has revived lo ngstanding debates about coastal development. S Congress has approved more than $60 billion in relief funding for Sandy, which ranks as one of the most destructive storms in U.S. history. Future storms could be even worse because of climate change, which is raising global sea levels. New York officials are considering building floodgates to protect against storm surges, one of many strategies under consideration. Some Scientists expect high-density oceanside communities such as Atlantic Beach, N.Y. — shown nearly a year experts argue that to make coastlines better able to withstand ex - before Superstorm Sandy heavily damaged the town last October — to be increasingly threatened by intense storms and rising sea levels due to climate change. treme weather, storm-damaged houses in vulnerable zones should Environmentalists and taxpayer groups want the government to stop encouraging coastal development. not be rebuilt. Meanwhile, critics blame the federal flood insurance program, designed to help homeowners who cannot get private I coverage, for subsidizing risky development with taxpayer dollars. N THIS REPORT S But advocates say the program is needed to protect homeowners THE ISSUES ...... 183 I against catastrophic loss. BACKGROUND ...... 190 D CHRONOLOGY ...... 191 E CURRENT SITUATION ...... 196 CQ Researcher • Feb. 22, 2013 • www.cqresearcher.com AT ISSUE ...... 197 Volume 23, Number 8 • Pages 181-204 OUTLOOK ...... 199 RECIPIENT OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS AWARD FOR BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 202 EXCELLENCE N AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SILVER GAVEL AWARD THE NEXT STEP ...... 203 COASTAL DEVELOPMENT CQ Re search er Feb. 22, 2013 THE ISSUES OUTLOOK Volume 23, Number 8 MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas J. Billitteri • Should state and local Resilient Coastlines [email protected] 183 199 Superstorm Sandy could governments block coastal ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR: Kathy Koch development? cause people to rethink unsus - [email protected] tainable coastal development. • Can the National Flood SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Insurance Program be fixed? Thomas J. Colin • Does New York City SIDEBARS AND GRAPHICS [email protected] need floodgates? ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kenneth Jost Floodgates Proposed for STAFF WRITER: Marcia Clemmitt BACKGROUND 184 New York Harbor Devices are designed to pro - CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Sarah Glazer, Wealth and Trade Centers tect cities from storm surges. Peter Katel , Barbara Mantel, Tom Price, 190 Coastal economies prosper Jennifer Weeks because they benefit from Development Concerns SENIOR PROJECT EDITOR: Olu B. Davis international trade. 185 Spawn National Seashores ASSISTANT EDITOR: Darrell Dela Rosa The designation protects 192 Rush to the Shore against new development. FACT CHECKER: Michelle Harris Growing postwar tourism EDITORIAL INTERN: Ethan McLeod and new interstate high - Coastline Population ways spurred coastal de - 188 Booming velopment. The U.S. coastline population grew from 47 million in 1960 Coasts Under Pressure to 89 million in 2010. 193 By the 1960s, unfettered An Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc. development was begin - Chronology VICE PRESIDENT AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, 191 Key events since 1900. HIGHER EDUCATION GROUP: ning to damage the Michele Sordi coasts. Cities Seek Ways to Block SENIOR DIRECTOR, ONLINE LIBRARY AND 192 Rising Oceans In Harm’s Way REFERENCE PUBLISHING: 195 Movable gates are part of Todd Baldwin Hurricanes Katrina and broader protection systems. Rita signaled that the East Copyright © 2013 CQ Press, an Imprint of SAGE Pub - Coast could suffer the Interest Grows in “Soft” lications, Inc. SAGE reserves all copyright and other same kind of catastrophic 194 Shoreline Engineering rights herein, unless pre vi ous ly spec i fied in writing. storms. “This approach improves the No part of this publication may be reproduced quality of life in cities.” electronically or otherwise, without prior written permission. Un au tho rized re pro duc tion or trans mis- CURRENT SITUATION At Issue: sion of SAGE copy right ed material is a violation of 197 Should the National Flood In - federal law car ry ing civil fines of up to $100,000. Clashing Signals surance Program be privatized? CQ Press is a registered trademark of Congressional 196 Many federal policies pro - Quarterly Inc. mote coastal development FOR FURTHER RESEARCH CQ Researcher (ISSN 1056-2036) is printed on acid- while others discourage it. free paper. Pub lished weekly, except: (March wk. 5) For More Information (May wk. 4) (July wk. 1) (Aug. wks. 3, 4) (Nov. wk. A New FEMA 201 Organizations to contact. 4) and (Dec. wks. 3, 4). Published by SAGE Publica - 198 Supporters say the agency tions, Inc., 2455 Teller Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. performed well during Bibliography Annual full-service subscriptions start at $1,054. For Sandy. 202 Selected sources used. pricing, call 1-800-818-7243. To purchase a CQ Re - searcher report in print or electronic format (PDF), Rising Seas The Next Step visit www.cqpress.com or call 866-427-7737. Single 198 Study says oceans are ris - 203 Additional articles . reports start at $15. Bulk purchase discounts and ing 60 percent faster than electronic-rights licensing are also available. Periodicals projected. Citing CQ Researcher postage paid at Thousand Oaks, California, and at 203 Sample bibliography formats. additional mailing offices . POST MAST ER: Send ad dress chang es to CQ Re search er , 2300 N St., N.W., Suite 800, Cover: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett Wash ing ton, DC 20037.

182 CQ Researcher Coastal Development BY JENNIFER WEEKS

and flood-prone areas. This THE ISSUES puts people and property di - rectly in harm’s way. Coastal efore Superstorm development also harms Sandy barreled up the beaches and coastal wetlands B Atlantic coast last and estuaries, which are high - October, the worst flooding ly productive ecosystems that John Schreiber had experi - provide habitat for fish, shell - enced was in 2011, when fish and birds — including Hurricane Irene left three many endangered species — inches of water standing in and provide a natural storm a back room of his house buffer for inland areas. Thus, on the south shore of Long the critics contend, govern - Island. Schreiber’s neighbor - ment policies should be hood is laced with canals, changed to encourage homes t t

including one directly behind e and businesses to move out n n

his property. e of harm’s way and make it B

But Sandy was the most e harder to build along the shore c

u 6 intense storm to hit New York r in the future. B /

and New Jersey in 40 years, s “Sandy was a wake-up call e g

even though it had been a for New York and New Jer - m I

downgraded to a tropical sey,” says Robert Young, a y t t

storm by the time it made e coastal geologist and director landfall near Atlantic City on G of the Program for the Study 1 Gary Silberman surveys the damage to his home October 29. Striking at high wrought by Superstorm Sandy last October in of Developed Shorelines at tide during a full moon, it Lindenhurst, N.Y., located on the south side of Long Western Carolina University. pushed flood waters as Island. Sandy caused an estimated $50 billion in “Scientific panels had been much as nine feet above av - damages, making it the second-costliest storm in U.S. prodding people to get ready erage high-tide marks. 2 Four history and reviving a longstanding debate over coastal for [a direct hit] for some time, development. Critics say government policies encourage feet of water poured into construction — and constant reconstruction — in but most of that advice was Schreiber’s back room and storm- and flood-prone areas, endangering people and ignored.” In Young’s view, most flowed through the ground property and harming critical wetlands and estuaries. zones of the Atlantic and Gulf level of his home. Coasts are equally vulnerable. Today, nearly four months after Sandy, homes and swamped thousands of “Everyone should be concerned about up to half of the houses on Schreiber’s businesses. 4 storm risks,” he warns. block are still vacant. “People have Damages from Sandy totaled an es - Multiple government programs di - ripped out the insides and are waiting timated $50 billion, according to the rectly or indirectly subsidize coastal for contractors to put in new Sheetrock, National Hurricane Center. That makes development, including federal flood or plumbing, or floors,” he says. A re - it the second-costliest storm in U.S. insurance, post-storm disaster aid and tired teacher, Schreiber estimates that history, exceeded only by Hurricane federal cost-sharing for beach restora - he has spent $20,000 of his savings to Katrina, which caused damage worth tion projects. Some of these measures tear out damaged walls and floors and $128 billion (in 2012 adjusted dollars) provide benefits beyond their imme - replace appliances. after striking the Gulf Coast in August diate scope. For example, states that It could have been worse. Sandy 2005. 5 write plans for managing their coast - killed 72 people in the United States Sandy’s devastation has revived a lines can receive federal grants to re - and 75 in the Caribbean. 3 High winds longstanding debate over development develop urban waterfronts or protect knocked out electricity for more than in coastal areas. Critics of coastal de - coastal resources — steps that make 8.5 million homes in 16 states and the velopment, including many scientists those areas more enjoyable for both District of Columbia. Heavy flooding and environmentalists and even some residents and visitors. in New Jersey and New York dam - free-market advocates, say government But other programs encourage aged or destroyed more than 650,000 policies encourage construction in storm- harmf ul overdevelopment. A prime

www.cqresearcher.com Feb. 22, 2013 183 COASTAL DEVELOPMENT

On Jan. 6 President Obama signed Floodgates Proposed for New York Harbor a bill authorizing the NFIP to borrow $9.7 billion from the U.S. Treasury to Engineers have proposed two separate designs for floodgates to block pay claims stemming from Sandy. The storm surges in New York Harbor. Both systems would require a barrier program already owes the Treasury across the Upper East River to close off surges from Long Island Sound. more than $18 billion for claims from A three-gate system would place short barriers between New Jersey storms in 2005 and 2008 that far ex - and Staten Island and from Staten Island to Brooklyn. The alterna - ceeded premiums collected from policy - tive system would include a five-mile-long barrier stretching from holders. the Gateway National Recreation Area in New Jersey to the Rock - Flood insurance advocates say the away Peninsula on Long Island. Cost estimates for the structures NFIP saves the federal government range from $7 billion to $29 billion. money because premiums help pay for flood relief. “I’m certainly glad I Storm Surge Barriers Proposed for New York Harbor had it,” says Schreiber, who expects his flood insurance to pay all or most of his Sandy repair costs. Moreover, to participate in the program com - munities must adopt and enforce flood - Upper East River plain management regulations designed to reduce losses — for example, ele - vating new homes in flood zones above NEW the level of a 100-year flood. 7 (See chart, p. 190. ) But critics argue that M the program subsidizes development a YORK n h in flood-prone areas. They want to pri - a t vatize NFIP so owners pay the full t a NEW Verrazano n cost of protecting risky properties. ( See JERSEY “At Issue,” p. 197. ) Brooklyn The federal government also pro - vides billions of dollars in emergency Staten aid to states and communities during Island and after major disasters such as storms, tornadoes or earthquakes. Under the Stafford Act, passed in 1988, the fed - eral government pays 100 percent of Outer Harbor Perth Amboy eligible housing assistance and at least 75 percent of costs for removing de - bris and repairing or replacing public 8 Barriers facilities. President Obama issued major disaster declarations for Sandy Gateway National that covered all or part of 12 states and Recreation the District of Columbia, making them Area eligible for federal disaster aid . 9 On Jan. 29, Obama signed a Source: “Recommendations to Improve the Strength and Resilience of the Empire $50.5 billion emergency spending bill State’s Infrastructure,” NYS 2100 Commission, January 2013, p. 121; map adapted for disaster relief for the affected area, with permission from the American Society of Civil Engineers including funds for the Federal Emer - example is the federally adminis - cause private insurers consider the gency Management Agency (FEMA) tered National Flood Insurance Pro - risk too high, so the federal pro - and several other agencies. 10 House gram (NFIP), created in 1968. Con - gram insures coastal properties for Republicans initially delayed the bill ventional homeowners’ insurance less than what the private sector and objected that some items — such policies do not cover flooding be - would charge. as funds to improve weather forecasting

184 CQ Researcher — were not directly related to Sandy. But politicians from affected states as - Development Concerns Spawn National Seashores sailed them for delaying relief funds. Concerns over heavy development in coastal regions have led Congress “Sixty-six days and counting. Shame to designate 10 areas in the National Park System as National on you,” New Jersey’s Republican gov - Seashores. The designation protects the areas from new development. ernor, Chris Christie, declared on Jan. 2, noting that Congress passed emergency Federally Designated National Seashores aid just 11 days after Hurricane Katrina National Year flooded New Orleans in 2005 . Seashore Location est. Acreage “This is not the United States. This should not be the Republican Party,” Cape Hatteras North Carolina 1953 30,351 groused Rep. Peter King, a New York Located in the Outer Banks. Known for beaches, waterfowl, fishing and Republican. 11 points of historical interest, including the iconic Cape Hatteras Light - Beyond pork-barrel spending, ob - house. Includes 6,000-acre Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. servers see a bigger problem: Disas - Assateague Island Maryland, Virginia 1965 39,727 ter relief money often does not re - Known for sandy beaches, waterfowl and wild horses. Includes 9,000 - quire recipients to make new homes, acre Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. businesses or other structures safer or move them out of harm’s way, even Cape Lookout North Carolina 1966 28,243 though such steps (known as risk mit - Composed of three islands in the Outer Banks. Islands have two historic igation) can reduce future damage. villages and the Cape Lookout Lighthouse. Camping, fishing and hiking Under the Stafford Act, funds can be are traditional recreational activities. used only to upgrade structures to Cape Cod Massachusetts 1966 43,608 meet stricter building codes or zon - National Seashore located on the outer part of the cape. Includes archaeo - ing standards if a state or local gov - logical sites, lighthouses and the Marconi Station Site, where trans - ernment adopted such requirements Atlantic wireless communication began in 1903. 12 before the disaster. Padre Island Texas 1968 130,434 “After disasters we usually build World’s longest undeveloped barrier island. Known for fishing and back almost exactly what was there abundant bird and marine life. U.S. military used island as a bombing before, and I think that’s what we’re range during World War II. going to find after Sandy,” says Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Gulf Islands Florida, Mississippi 1971 137,991 Common Sense, a nonpartisan fiscal Includes four historic forts used for Civil War defense. Once home to watchdog group in Washington. Apache Indians. Includes the Naval Live Oaks Reservation, which has For example, he notes, the Sandy been set aside for tree preservation. relief bill includes $5 billion for the Point Reyes California 1972 71,068 Army Corps of Engineers, which con - San Francisco-area peninsula with beaches backed by tall cliffs, lagoons, structs and maintains dams, waterways forested ridges and offshore bird and sea lion colonies. Occupied by elk and navigation channels. The Corps and elephant seals. also manages “beach replenishment” Cumberland Island Georgia 1972 36,415 projects — pumping sand from off - Largest of Georgia’s Golden Isles. Once home to Native Americans, shore onto beaches to restore eroded missionaries and slaves. dunes. Many coastal communities see beach replenishment as a shield against Canaveral Florida 1975 57,662 storm damage because dunes can ab - Barrier island includes multiple bird species in lagoon habitats. Kennedy sorb some of the force from storm Space Center occupies southern end. surges. But critics say replenishment Fire Island New York 1984 19,579 does not last and can harm the envi - Known for beaches and dunes. Includes the estate of William Floyd, a ronment. For example, pumping fine signer of the Declaration of Independence. sediments onto beaches can make Source: “The National Parks: Index 2009-2011,” National Park Service, 2011, water murky, and building new dunes www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/nps/index2009_11.pdf can bury sensitive wildlife habitats. 13

www.cqresearcher.com Feb. 22, 2013 185 COASTAL DEVELOPMENT

The Sandy relief bill directs the Sandy, they say, now is the time to move are gravy for towns — they generate Corps to help restore navigation chan - development back from coastlines. high taxes and don’t require a lot of nels, beaches and other damaged in - “We should strongly discourage the municipal services, since they’re only frastructure to pre-storm conditions. reconstruction of destroyed or badly occupied for part of the year.” “It aims to put beaches back, but they damaged beachfront homes in New In the wake of Sandy, New Jersey won’t last,” says Young. Instead, he Jersey and New York,” Orrin H. Pilkey, Gov. Christie initially dismissed the need and other coastal experts say, the an emeritus professor of earth sciences to regulate where or how owners could hardest-hit areas should not be re - at Duke University and longtime critic rebuild. “I think, in the main, that’s a constructed. local decision, and the Climate change localities need to make will exacerbate that decision them - coastal flooding selves,” Christie said just by warming the a few days after the oceans, which caus - storm. 19 But in De - es seawater to ex - cember FEMA released pand, and melting updated flood hazard glaciers and ice caps maps for the Jersey on land. 14 These shore showing that e

processes raise glob - r flood waters could rise o al sea levels. A re - o 1 to 5 feet higher than M

cent study by the n previous versions of h o

National Research J the maps had indicat - / s

Council estimated e ed. (FEMA had begun g that global sea lev - a updating its maps of m I

els will rise rough - y flood-prone areas be - t t ly 1.5 to 4.5 feet this e fore Sandy hit.) 15 G century. But the New Jersey’s Republican governor, Chris Christie, and other politicians In January Christie increases will not be from affected states assailed House GOP members in early January — ordered the immediate uniform. According more than two months after Superstorm Sandy — for delaying adoption of the new to the U.S. Geolog - relief funds for storm-hit states. maps as the state re - ical Survey, sea lev - building standard. The els are rising at three to four times the of shoreline development, wrote three order did not block owners from re - global rate along the Atlantic coast from weeks after Sandy. “This is tough med - building in high-risk z ones, but if peo - North Carolina to Massachusetts be - icine to be sure, and taxpayers may ple do not mitigate flood risks — for cause of such factors as ocean currents, be forced to compensate homeown - example, by raising their homes on water temperature and salinity . 16 ers. But it should save taxpayers posts or pilings — they will face sharp As politicians, scientists and coastal money in the long run by ending this increases in flood insurance premiums. communities consider where and how cycle of repairing or rebuilding prop - Raising houses, Christie said, is “what to rebuild after Superstorm Sandy, here erties in the path of future storms.” 18 we need to do to build a 21st-century are some issues they are considering: Typically, homeowners and com - Jersey shore.” 20 munities want to rebuild damaged struc - Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Should state and local govern - tures wherever possible. “Most people Cuomo has urged Sandy victims to ments block coastal development? still see coastal property as highly de - consider raising their houses, but he Many scientists say that as climate sirable even if they face repetitive dam - also advocates a second option: sell - change raises sea levels, it will make age,” says Grover Fugate, executive di - ing damaged homes in high-risk areas storms — the main cause of coastal rector of the Rhode Island Coastal to the state, which would demolish erosion — more catastrophic. 17 Thus, Resources Management Council, a state them and leave the properties unde - governments should limit develop - regulatory agency. “Property owners veloped. “At one point you have to ment near the water’s edge, contend want to keep holding the line until say maybe Mother Nature doesn’t want many environmentalists, coastal scien - they’ve got no more property to build you here,” Cuomo said in late Janu - tists and taxpayer watchdog groups. on. Local communities will push for ary. Sales would be voluntary, the gov - And in zones hit hard by storms like development because vacation homes ernor emphasized: “I’m not saying

186 CQ Researcher anybody should sell, but you should the 1980s, are controversial today. fathered” properties that predate the think about it.” 21 “With each storm we’re challenged program. These policies cost only 40 New York City wants the Obama because people obviously want to to 45 percent as much as full-risk pre - administration to use up to $400 mil - protect their homes, and many of our miu ms. Moreover, since the NFIP was lion in storm relief money to buy out policies don’t let them,” says Fugate. designed to provide affordable flood homeowners, paying them the pre- “But if states are really concerned protection, even the rates NFIP con - storm value for their property and about public finances and public safe - siders full-price premiums are cheaper even a premium above fair market ty and health, they’ve got to address than what private insurers would charge. value to entice owners in some of the this issue aggressively.” Those subsidies encourage risky most vulnerable zones to move. 22 Some states are less willing to ac - development, critics argue. “Before States can use eminent domain (the knowledge risks from climate change. federal flood insurance, people built right to take private property for a In 2010 North Carolina’s Coastal Re - beach shacks that they could afford public use) to ban redevelopment or sources Commission advised coastal to lose,” says David Helvarg, president require owners to abandon developed communities to plan for three feet or of the Blue Frontier Campaign, an property in areas where flood risks more of sea-level rise by 2100. Local ocean conservation advocacy group. are extreme. 23 Such actions would critics assailed the recommendation, ar - “But once the federal government likely generate “takings” claims — law - guing that it would limit development. started providing insurance that the pri - suits citing the Fifth Amendment’s ban Last summer the state’s Republican- vate sector wouldn’t offer, it was easy on depriving citizens of their property majority legislature passed a bill bar - to get mortgages, and that triggered a without due process of law and seek - ring the commission from planning on [coastal] development boom.” ing compensation from the state. But anything beyond historic rates of Insurers say that without the NFIP, J. Peter Byrne, a law professor at George - change. After the measure was wide - many people in flood zones would town University, says less-drastic op - ly mocked as an attempt to outlaw not be able to afford coverage. “When tions exist for steering development away science, the legislature amended the you underwrite this risk correctly, it’s from flood-prone areas and preventing bill, directing the commission to study very expensive,” says John Prible, vice landowners from “hardening” coastal the issue until 2016 without defining president for government affairs with areas with such fixtures as seawalls, rates of sea-level change. 24 the Independent Insurance Agents and which block the natural shifting of sand Opponents called the bill short - Brokers of America (IIABA). “You don’t and actually promote erosion. sighted. “By putting our heads in the want to drive people away by making “When the California Coastal Com - sand literally, we are not helping prop - it too expensive. Some people say they’ll mission [a state regulatory agency] erty owners. We are hurting them,” self-insure instead by setting the money awards permits for new housing, it state Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross aside to mitigate risks” — in other adds a provision that limits owners’ said during debate. “Ignorance is not words, they’ll pay to protect the prop - ability to harden shorelines,” says Byrne. bliss. It is dangerous.” 25 erty themselves. “But they don’t usual - “You could imagine going a step fur - ly follow through,” Prible says. “That’s ther and letting owners rebuild, but Can the federal flood insurance why insurance exists.” limiting it to one time if some specif - program be fixed? For the NFIP’s first several decades, ic fraction of the property was de - The National Flood Insurance Pro - damage reimbursements to policy hold - stroyed again. That’s a limit on future gram offers discounted coverage for ers were funded by premiums on poli - development, not current activities. Gov - homes and businesses in areas at mod - cies. But when Hurricanes Katrina and ernments could justify it as protecting erate to high risk of flooding. It is in - Rita hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, dam - public health and safety by reducing tended to save taxpayers money by age was so widespread that the pro - risks of future shoreline damage.” providing affordable insurance in zones gram had to borrow money from the Rhode Island imposes multiple lim - where private insurance companies will Treasury to pay claims. Before Sandy its on shoreline development, includ - not write policies, reducing the need struck, the NFIP already owed the ing bans on constructing seawalls for massive federal-aid legislation Treasury $18 billion, and it received and other hard shoreline protection every time a big flood occurs. nearly $10 billion in additional bor - structures and building on dunes. But critics say people who live in rowing authority last month to pay The state assumes for planning pur - flood-prone areas should have to pay claims from Sandy. poses that sea levels will rise three insurance rates that reflect the actual Insurance premiums are based on to five feet by 2100. Many of the de - risk to their properties. About one- flooding risk in the zone where a velopment restrictions, adopted in fourth of NFIP policies insure “grand - property is located. To help property

www.cqresearcher.com Feb. 22, 2013 187 COASTAL DEVELOPMENT

Observers widely agree that high - Coastline Population Booming er premiums are an essential step to - ward stabilizing the NFIP, but officials The coastline population of the United States grew from 47 million in New York and New Jersey have in 1960 to 89 million in 2010. The greatest change occurred in the warned that increases could displace Gulf of Mexico region, which grew by more than 150 percent over many victims of Sandy. Ronald Schiff - the period. The coastal population in the Pacific region more than man, a former member of the New doubled. York City Planning Commission, pre - Coastline Population and Percent Change, dicted “a massive displacement of low- 1960 to 2010 income families from their historic com - munities,” unless these residents receive 57.3% Change 155.3% Change 112.5% Change some relief from Congress or state 42.0 governments. 28 Moreover, many observers say that million 32.3 even with higher premiums, the NFIP 26.7 million million 5.6 will continue to be financially unsound. million 14.3 15.2 “A regular insurance carrier would take million million steps to cover its risk, like buying rein - Atlantic Gulf of Mexico Pacific surance [insurance that insurance com - panies purchase to protect themselves * Coastline counties include those adjacent to coastal waters or territorial seas. These do not include the counties adjacent to the Great Lakes or in the event of large payouts] and price other inland bodies of water. it into policies. NFIP can’t do that — it 1960 can only borrow from Uncle Sam,” says Sources: “Coastline Population Trends in the United States: 1960 to 2010 2008,” U.S. Census Bureau, May 2010, p. 24, www.census.gov/prod/ Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense. 2010pubs/p25-1139.pdf; U.S. Census Bureau press office “And it can’t diversify its risk into many geographic areas or write different types owners and mortgage lenders judge case is the Alabama beach community of policies. All of the market forces are flood risks, FEMA, which administers of Dauphin Island, which has been hit going in the wrong direction.” the NFIP, has produced maps of flood- repeatedly by hurricanes over the past Texas Republican Rep. Jeb Hensar - risk areas across the United States. All 30 years. Dauphin Island has only about ling, chair of the House Financial Ser - homes and businesses in high-risk areas 1,300 year-round residents, but owners vices Committee and a longtime critic must be covered by flood insurance there have received $72 million in pay - of NFIP, wants to privatize the program. to qualify for federally regulated or in - ments from the NFIP. 27 On Jan. 4, as Congress debated in - sured mortgages. ( See box, p. 190. ) In In addition, FEMA is updating its creasing the program’s borrowing power fact, however, the NFIP currently in - flood-hazard maps, which will raise pre - to pay claims from Sandy, Hensarling sures only about 25 percent of eligi - miums for some owners whose com - argued for ending “unsustainable tax - ble households in these areas, total - munities have become high-risk zones. payer bailouts” and announced that he ing roughly 5.6 million policies. 26 These steps could change the de - would introduce legislation to transition “Some consumers buy coverage mographics of coastal communities. to “a private, innovative, competitive, when they get their mortgage, but “Middle-income owners may not be sustainable flood-insurance market.” ( See then let it lapse,” says Prible. “And a able to afford to stay on the shore, “At Issue,” p. 197. ) lot of older homes in coastal areas are but wealthy people will,” says Skip Ellis calls that approach too extreme. paid off and don’t have mortgages.” Stiles, executive director of Wetlands “If we got rid of federal flood insur - When Congress reauthorized the Watch, a conservation advocacy group ance tomorrow, the private sector NFIP in July 2012, it took steps to based in Norfolk, Va. “On the Outer wouldn’t cover everyone,” he says. In - strengthen the program. For example, Banks [a popular strip of barrier is - stead he supports further reforms, it voted to let premiums rise by 20 per - lands off the coast of North Carolina], such as requiring more people to buy cent yearly (increases previously had insurance is hard to get, so people coverage so risks are spread over a been capped at 10 percent) and to are forming syndicates to pool money larger pool of policy holders. “We’ve phase out subsidies for second homes, and build rental houses for cash. They enticed people to build in high-risk business properties and homes that have don’t need mortgages, so they don’t areas. Abolishing the program would suffered repeated losses. One extreme need flood insurance.” be a big shock to the system.”

188 CQ Researcher Does New York City need flood - The New York City Panel on Cli - the Rockaways “likely would have pre - gates? mate Change (NPCC), a high-level ad - vented the flooding of the subways, tun - As New York recovers from Super - visory group convened by Mayor nels, airports, wastewater treatments plants storm Sandy, officials are considering Bloomberg, examined the city’s vul - and other critical infrastructure” that oc - large-scale investments to reduce the im - nerability to climate change and in 2010 curred during Sandy, the group stated. pact of future storms. One controversial recommended steps to adapt to rising But the panel also noted shortcom - proposal is to build large floodgates that sea levels. The panel concluded that ings. Surge barriers would not protect could block major storm surges from floodgates were worth considering but the city against flooding from rainfall or entering New York Harbor. would require “very extensive study,” high water on the East or Hudson These systems al - Rivers. And because they ready are used in would be closed only Europe. London, when a major storm was Rotterdam and St. expected, the barriers Petersburg, Russia, would not prevent ris - are all protected by ing sea levels from grad - r e t

large storm-surge s ually inundating low- e l barriers on nearby l lying coastal sites. Finally, o C rivers, and Venice is c surge barriers could have M building a flood con - major impacts on the n e r trol system to close r ecology of New York a D

off its lagoon. ( See / Harbor and on shipping s e

sidebar, p. 192. ) In g and recreation around a 33 the United States, m the harbor. I

y smaller gates protect t Mayor Bloomberg is t e

Stamford, Conn., and G skeptical about flood - Providence, R.I. Ocean waves crash over the seawall in Winthrop, Mass., on Feb. 9, gates. “I don’t think William Merrell, a 2013, as a powerful winter storm swept through New England, there’s any practical way dumping more than two feet of snow in some areas and professor of marine knocking out power to at least 600,000 homes. to build barriers in the science at Texas A&M oceans,” Bloomberg University, has proposed building a especially since other, smaller-scale strate - said in early November, shortly after floodgate that would close off Galveston gies were available . 32 Sandy. “Even if you spent a fortune, Bay during storms. The “Ike Dike” — “Key research questions need to be it’s not clear to me that you would named for 2008’s Hurricane Ike, which answered,” says Radley Horton, a re - get much value for it.” 34 caused $30 billion in damage around search scientist at Columbia Universi - New York has many urgent fixes Houston — would cost an estimated ty’s Center for Climate Systems Re - on its post-Sandy task list, such as $6 billion. 29 So far it has not attracted search and adviser to the NPCC. “How making its subway network more storm- hi gh-level support or federal funding . 30 do you test a system like this? How resistant; relocating electric power In recent years engineers have pro - do you minimize the risk that it will lines and substations and restoring posed two designs for floodgates in fail? Will it create a false sense of se - dunes and other natural barriers de - New York Harbor. One would be a curity and encourage people to live stroyed by Sandy. The NYS 2100 re - two-gate system, with barriers reach - close to the coast? What will its envi - port also recommended many longer- ing from New Jersey to Staten Island ronmental impacts be? What happens term steps, such as developing new and from Staten Island to Brooklyn. to people who live just outside of the transportation links to give commuters Alternatively, the city could build a barrier, where flood risks will increase?” more ways to get around the city if five-mile barrier stretching from New After Sandy, Gov. Cuomo convened some systems are damaged. And it Jersey to the Rockaway Peninsula on another expert group, the NYS 2100 called for more use of “green” infra - Long Island. Either approach would Commission, to recommend ways to structure techniques, such as paving require an additional barrier to close make the entire state more resilient against roads with porous materials to soak off surges from Long Island Sound up future storms. In its report last month up runoff, and restoring wetlands and the East River. Cost estimates for ei - the group called for an in-depth study oyster reefs to buffer coastlines against ther range from $7 billion to $29 bil - on building floodgates for New York floods. ( See sidebar, p. 192. ) lion. 31 (See map, p. 184. ) Harbor. A barrier from New Jersey to But even with billions of dollars in

www.cqresearcher.com Feb. 22, 2013 189 COASTAL DEVELOPMENT

and it still holds true: Coastal economies Defining Flood Risks for Landowners prosper because they have direct con - Maps prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency nections to international shipping routes, which are the cheapest way to designate the level of flood risk in low-lying areas of the country. move goods around the globe. 35 Government officials, insurance agents and lenders use the designa - Only 5 percent of the population tions to set flood insurance rates and premiums and determine in colonial America lived in major cities, whether a home or business owner must buy flood insurance to the largest of which were the port cities obtain a federally insured mortgage. To enable residents to buy flood of Boston, Philadelphia, New York and insurance, communities in these zones must participate in the Charleston, S.C. Those cities’ trade links National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by adopting and enforcing to Europe made them commercial, po - minimum standards for development in floodplains. litical and cultural centers. 36 Acquiring new ports was a priori - ty during Westward expansion. In 1803 Zones expected to flood once every • High risk areas — President Thomas Jefferson approved 100 years (also known as 100-year flood areas). This risk spending up to $10 million — an enor - translates to a 1 percent chance of flooding in any given year, mous sum at that time — to buy New or roughly 1 in 4 odds over the life of a 30-year mortgage. All Orleans from France. Eventually, the home and business owners in these zones must buy flood United States ended up purchasing not insurance in order to qualify for federally regulated or insured only New Orleans but the entire mortgages. Louisiana Territory for $15 million, near - ly doubling the size of the country. • Moderate risk areas — Zones that typically lie between Jefferson then sent the Lewis and Clark 100-year and 500-year flood lines (1 to 0.2 percent chance of expedition West to find a route to the flooding in any given year), or that lie in 100-year flood zones Pacific Ocean. but are protected by levees. Flood insurance in these zones is not Naval blockades during the War of generally required as a condition for federally regulated mort - 1812 and the Civil War highlighted the gages, although some states or lenders may require it. economic importance of port cities. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, estab - • Low risk areas — Zones typically above the 500-year lished in 1802, built forts and military flood line. Flood insurance in these zones is not generally batteries along the Atlantic and Gulf required as a condition for federally regulated mortgages. coasts, and later along the Pacific Coast. The Corps also constructed canals, light - Source: https://msc.fema.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/info?storeId=10001&catalog houses, piers and other harbor facilities Id=10001&langId=-1&content=floodZones&title=FEMA percent 2520Flood percent and mapped navigation routes to sup - 2520Zone percent 2520Designations port more trade and travel. The Corps’ mission turned to flood- federal relief money, some of which prevention after disasters in 1927 and can be used to prepare for future ’28 — including devastating flooding storms, New York officials will have BACKGROUND along the Mississippi River and hurri - to make choices about where to in - canes in South Florida that killed thou - vest and how to sequence projects. sands and flooded hundreds of acres. “There won’t be one silver bullet Wealth and Trade Centers The Corps began building massive dike to solve this problem. We need a ro - systems in flood-prone areas, enabling bust mixture of tools and strategies, landowners there to build homes and from elevating buildings to long-term re - or more than two centuries schol - farms. The disasters of the 1920s also treat in vulnerable areas,” says Timothy F ars have observed that coastal areas led private companies to stop provid - Beatley, a professor of urban and en - tend to attract more wealth, invest - ing flood insurance because it had be - vironmental planning at the Universi - ment and people than inland zones. come too costly. 37 ty of Virginia who has written about Scottish economist Adam Smith point - After the Civil War, industrialization making coastal areas more resilient ed out this correlation in his landmark accelerated in Northern states, but against disasters. work, The Wealth of Nations (1776), Continued on p. 192

190 CQ Researcher Chronology

1969 1992 1900-1960 Stratton Commission on manage - In Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Industry, ports and military ment of U.S. coastal resources Council , U.S. Supreme Court rules bases spread along large sections warns that these zones are threat - that forbidding all use of private of U.S. coastlines. ened by heavy development and land in a potential flood zone calls for better coastal zone man - amounts to a “taking” of private 1900 agement. land, so the government must pay Hurricane inundates Galveston, the owner. . . . Hurricane Andrew Texas, killing between 6,000 and 1970 hits Miami, causing $25 billion in 12,000 people. National Oceanic and Atmospheric damages, according to a 1993 Na - Administration (NOAA) created to tional Hurricane Center report. 1922 protect and manage marine re - First U.S. beach replenishment pro - sources. 1996 gram launched at Coney Island, N.Y. Congress raises NFIP borrowing 1972 authority from $1 billion to 1940 Congress enacts Coastal Zone $1.5 billion. After France falls to Nazi Germany, Management Act to help states United States launches a massive along the nation’s coasts manage • military expansion along its coasts, growth in coastal areas. . . . Cali - including new naval bases, ship - fornia voters pass Proposition 20, yards and port facilities. creating a state commission to 2001-2013 regulate coastal development. Storms inflict heavy damage in 1956 many coastal zones. Federal Aid Highway Act autho - 1973 rizes construction of the Interstate NFIP is amended to require 2005 Highway System, boosting tourist homes and buildings in high-risk Hurricanes Katrina and Rita strike travel to coastal resorts. flood areas to have flood insurance Gulf Coast, inflicting $117 billion in order to receive a federally in damages. • regulated or insured mortgage. 2006 • Congress raises NFIP borrowing 1960-1980 authority to $20 billion. Economic growth spurs in - creased tourism, putting new 1980-2000 2008 pressure on coastal areas and Growth outstrips conservation Hurricane Ike causes $27 billion in raising concerns about over - measures in many coastal areas. damage to the Texas coast. development. 1982 2012 1966 Congress passes Coastal Barriers Congress reauthorizes NFIP Cape Cod National Seashore estab - Resources Act, banning federal through 2017 with higher premi - lished as part of the National Park subsidies for development on ums. . . . Hurricane Sandy strikes System. 186 Atlantic and Gulf coast East Coast, causing an estimated barrier islands. $50 billion in damages. 1968 Congress creates National Flood 1988 2013 Insurance Program (NFIP) after Congress passes Stafford Act Congress raises NFIP borrowing Hurricane Betsy inflicts heavy (named after its sponsor, Sen. authority to $30 billion and ap - damage on Gulf Coast. The pro - Robert T. Stafford, R-Vt.), establish - proves $50.5 billion in emergency gram offers coverage to homeown - ing a system of federal aid to aid for Hurricane Sandy victims. ers, renters and businesses in state and local governments after communities that adopt measures natural disasters. to mitigate flood risks.

www.cqresearcher.com Feb. 22, 2013 191 COASTAL DEVELOPMENT

Cities Seek Ways to Block Rising Oceans Movable gates are part of broader protection systems.

ome cities vulnerable to flooding from storms and rising and 2070 if oceans rise to even higher levels. 3 sea levels are building a variety of structures to block or Venice, which dates back to the Middle Ages, was built on S mitigate the damage. They range from 10 massive mov - 118 small islands in a marshy lagoon adjacent to the Adriatic able gates in the Thames River near London to Rotterdam’s Sea and straddling the mouths of two rivers. Once a com - “Climate Proof” system, which includes a large set of flood mercial and naval power, Venice today is a major tourist des - gates and innovative features such as water plazas and float - tination — famous for its network of canals, plied by colorful ing buildings. gondoliers. But Venice is sinking as sea levels are rising. About London is about 40 miles from the coast, spreading along both 100 times a year floods inundate stores, restaurants and pop - sides of the Thames River. Because the Thames flows into the ular sites such as the Piazza San Marco, the city’s main square. North Sea, its lower section is affected by tides, and high tides Since 2003 Venice has been building 78 metal sea gates have flooded London throughout its history. The Thames Barrier, (named MOSE, from the Italian for the Biblical prophet Moses) a line of 10 movable gates that can be raised to block storm that can be raised to close off three inlets connecting its la - surges, has been closed 106 times since its completion in 1982. goon to the Adriatic. The barrier at the first inlet is scheduled More than half of those incidents have occurred since 2000. 1 to be tested this year. 4 When the system is open, the gates lie on the river bot - Other elements of the project include restoring nearby beach - tom, allowing ships to pass over them; when activated, they es, dunes and salt marshes; reinforcing fragile buildings; and rotate upward, forming a solid wall. 2 The gates are the largest reducing oil tanker traffic in the lagoon. The project is esti - element of a system of barriers and locks that protects Lon - mated to cost about $6.5 billion. 5 don and downriver communities from floods. Rotterdam, the second-largest city in the Netherlands (pop - Last November the United Kingdom’s Environment Agency re - ulation 600,000), lies near the North Sea, much of it on land leased its Thames Estuary 2100 Plan, which sets out strategies that is below sea level. Rotterdam also is near the Rhine-Meuse- for protecting lives and property along the Thames from grow - Scheldt Delta, where three rivers converge and flow into the ing flood risks through 2100. The document is based on scien - North Sea, so it is vulnerable to flooding from the river, the tists’ estimates that climate change will raise global sea levels by ocean and heavy rains, all of which can overwhelm the city’s about three feet by 2100, but the plan can be adapted for high - drainage systems and pumping stations. er levels. It projects that many existing flood control structures Rotterdam is protected by the massive Maeslant Barrier, a mov - will be raised or upgraded between 2035 and 2050 and that a able gate that closes off the New Waterway, a large shipping new Thames Barrier may have to be constructed between 2050 canal linking the Port of Rotterdam to the North Sea. When the

Continued from p. 190 Brooklyn’s southern tip or to Boston’s formed many sleepy coastal areas into growth lagged in the devastated South. Revere Beach. industrial hubs. Millions of Americans and new immi - In the 1920s, as wages rose and cars grants moved to cities seeking jobs. became widely available, middle-class But urban life in the late 1800s was Americans began traveling for pleasure, Rush to the Shore noisy, polluted and crowded. Coasts fueling development along Florida and offered fresh air and open space. Southern California beaches. fter World War II the U.S. econo - During the Gilded Age (1877-1893), Trade and economic production stag - A my expanded sharply as soldiers wealthy industrialists transformed the nated during the Great Depression. But returned to civilian life and weapons port town of Newport, R.I., into a sum - as war loomed in Europe, President factories shifted to producing cars and mer playground, building so-called Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) began consumer goods. Leisure travel became “cottages” that actually were opulent mobilizing industry and rebuilding U.S. affordable for middle- and working- mansions. In winter they traveled by military forces. After France fell to Nazi class families. In 1956 President Dwight train to new, grand beach resorts in Germany in 1940, the U.S. War De - D. Eisenhower commissioned a new in - Florida. Meanwhile, less wealthy city partment launched a major expansion, terstate highway system, which made dwellers escaped to such havens as building or modernizing military bases, many coastal regions more accessible. Cape Cod, Mass.; Cape May, N.J.; and shipyards, supply depots and other fa - Low-cost mortgages for veterans helped Ocean City, Md. Working-class beach - cilities across the nation. From Alaska to spur a wave of homebuilding, in - goers took subways to Coney Island at to Florida, military construction trans - cluding new construction in coastal areas.

192 CQ Researcher barrier is open, the storm water during heavy storms. t t doors are concealed in docks i The city also subsidizes con - w on both sides of the canal. e struction of green rooftops — H

If water levels in the canal e covered with plantings that ab - k i

rise to a specified level, the M sorb water — and is planning / s

doors swing out horizontal - e a district of floating buildings g

ly into the canal and sink, a where people can live, work m

6 I 7 blocking the channel. The and shop on the water. y t t

system has been activated e

only once, in 2007. G — Jennifer Weeks The Thames Barrier — a line of 10 movable gates that can The Maeslant Barrier is be raised from the river bottom to form a solid wall that 1 one element of the Nether - blocks storm surges — is part of a system of barriers and “21st Century Challenges: The lands’ elaborate Deltaworks, Thames Barrier,” Royal Geographic locks that protects London and downriver Society, www.21stcenturychallenges. a system of river dams and communities from floods. org/focus/the-thames-barrier/. storm-surge barriers devel - 2 Video at www.dailymail.co.uk/ oped after 1953, when a news/article-2253624/Thames-Barrier- shuts-time-years-prevent-flooding-Lon don-fresh-Atlantic-storm-promises-rain. hurricane storm surge broke through 89 dikes, killing nearly html#axzz2KFHYuGAE. 2,000 people and contaminating 772 square miles of fertile 3 “Thames Estuary 2100 Plan,” U.K. Environment Agency, November 2012, www. farmland with salt water. Such massive damage has not re - environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Leisure/SE_TE2100_briefing.pdf. curred, although the Netherlands experienced heavy river flood - 4 For details, see “Activities for the Safeguarding Venice and its Lagoon,” www. salve.it/uk/default.htm. ing in 1993 and 1995. 5 Giulia Lasagi, “Italy Goes Big to Save Venice as it Sinks Into the Sea,” The Maintaining barriers and dikes is a top national priority in Christian Science Monitor , April 13, 2012, www.csmonitor.com/World/Global - the Netherlands, but designers also are exploring innovative News/2012/0413/Italy-goes-big-to-save-Venice-as-it-sinks-into-the-sea. flood-control techniques. Rotterdam’s “Climate Proof” initiative 6 “Maeslant Barrier,” www.deltawerken.com/The-functioning/463.html. is designed to make the city resilient to flooding and heat stress 7 For details, see “Rotterdam Climate Proof capitalizes on water management opportunities,” Rotterdam Climate Initiative, www.rotterdamclimateinitiative. caused by climate change. nl/en/100_climate_proof/rotterdam_climate_proof/introduction_rotterdam_ Rotterdam is building a series of “water plazas” — parks climate_proof. that are set below grade that serve as mini reservoirs, storing

As beaches became increasingly In 1965 Hurricane Betsy struck the of counties along the Atlantic, Pacific popular destinations, the federal gov - Gulf Coast, flooding 164,000 homes in and Gulf coasts rose from 47 million in ernment took a larger role in beach New Orleans and killing 76 people. 39 1960 to 89 million in 2010, an 89 per - replenishment projects — moving sand The scale of the damage spurred Con gress cent increase. ( See graphic, p. 188. ) In and sediment to rebuild eroded shore - in 1968 to create the National Flood In - contrast, the overall U.S. population lines. Before World War II such pro - surance Program. Initially, purchasing flood grew by 72 percent during that peri - jects were rare and were funded by insurance was voluntary. But after Hurri - od. 41 About the same time, the av - state governments and local commu - cane Agnes hit the East Coast in 1972, erage population density of coastal nities. But in 1946 Congress autho - killing 122 and causing $2.1 billion in counties, excluding Alaska, rose from rized the Army Corps of Engineers to damage, it became clear that many coastal 260 people per square mile in 1960 help restore public beaches and the residents had not bought policies. 40 to 479 in 2008. 42 federal government to pay up to a In 1973 Congress made flood in - third of the costs. In 1956 Congress surance mandatory for federally backed allowed the Corps to participate in mortgages in high-risk flood areas. But Coasts Under Pressure private beach replenishment projects because many eligible owners found that showed substantial public bene - ways around the requirement, problems uring the second half of the 20th fits. And in 1962 Congress raised the persisted in the program. D century, intense coastal develop - federal cost-sharing limit for beach Nonetheless, Americans continued ment began to alarm observers who restoration to 50 percent. 38 moving to the coasts. The population worried that scenic areas would be

www.cqresearcher.com Feb. 22, 2013 193 COASTAL DEVELOPMENT

Interest Grows in “Soft” Shoreline Engineering “This approach improves the quality of life in cities.”

s state and local governments address coastal flooding partners in the United States and Canada on more than 50 soft hazards, some are trying an innovative concept called engineering projects along the Detroit River and the western A soft shoreline engineering. It uses plants and other nat - shoreline of Lake Erie — a highly urbanized area where heavy ural materials to stabilize shorelines, rather than hard structures industry once occupied most waterfront zones. The projects such as concrete retaining walls or banks of riprap (broken have removed old dams, restored flood plains and created new stones or chunks of concrete). habitat for birds and passages for fish. 1 Soft engineering projects include restoring marshes and off - Experts want soft engineering projects monitored and mea - shore shellfish beds and creating buffer zones of native plants sured so officials can determine whether the projects are pro - that thrive in floodplains. ducing the ecological benefits they were designed to achieve. Advocates of soft engineering say it is often cheaper than One review of 38 projects around Detroit found that only six hard engineered strategies and does not interfere with natural had carried out any kind of post-construction monitoring, and ecological processes, such as the transport of sediments along those projects only measured impacts for a year or two. Dam - shorelines. Soft techniques also protect upland areas from storms aged ecosystems often need more time to recover. 2 and floods: Shellfish reefs can act as barriers against storm A provocative exhibit at New York’s Museum of Modern Art surges, and marshes soak up floodwaters, releasing them slow - in 2010 presented a radical vision of soft shoreline engineer - ly after storms have passed. ing for the city. The exhibit, titled “Rising Currents,” challenged Soft shoreline engineering also complements city initiatives five teams to design soft engineering structures that could pro - to reclaim urban waterfronts and make them more attractive tect zones around New York Harbor during an extreme flood. and accessible. “We’re developing more parks and finding more Their proposals included waterfront parks, restored oyster reefs, ways for people to connect with water,” says Timothy Beatley, parks set in basins designed to hold floodwaters, and streets a professor of urban and environmental planning at the Uni - paved with absorptive tiles to filter runoff. 3 versity of Virginia. “This approach improves the quality of life After Hurricane Sandy flooded lower Manhattan in October, in cities and makes them more adaptable at the same time.” leaving millions of residents homeless or without utilities and The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has cooperated with local transportation, the designers looked like prophets. covered with houses, roads and bill - “Rapidly intensifying use of coastal blew out and leaked 200,000 gallons boards. Between 1953 and 1984, con - areas already has outrun the capabil - of oil, contaminating 35 miles of servationists persuaded Congress to add ities of local governments to plan their coastline and killing seabirds, seals 10 swaths of unspoiled coasts and is - orderly development and to resolve and dolphins. The Santa Barbara oil lands to the National Park System as conflicts,” the commission reported. spill helped to catalyze the first Earth National Seashores, protecting them from Trade, industry, fishing, recreation, the Day rally in April 1970 and led to any new development. ( See box, p. 185. ) armed forces and other uses were all state and federal bans on new off - Seven of the sites were located along competing for coastal space, but re - shore drilling. the Atlantic Coast, two on the Gulf Coast, sponsibility for managing coasts was Also in 1970, Congress voted to and one in California. spread among many agencies with no establish the National Oceanic and By the late 1960s many national one in charge. 44 Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) leaders were becoming concerned To fill this gap the commission urged within the Department of Commerce about negative impacts of unfettered Congress to pass a coastal manage - to manage U.S. fisheries, monitor the development across the United States. ment law that would set priorities; cre - climate, forecast weather and restore In 1969 a congressionally mandated ate a new agency to manage ocean - U.S. coastlines. And in 1972 Congress commission called for more strategic ic and atmospheric issues (recognizing enacted the Coastal Zone Manage - management of U.S. fisheries, waters that oceans and atmosphere interact - ment Act, which encouraged coastal and coastlines. 43 The commission, ed to shape global weather and cli - states to develop plans for managing chaired by Ford Foundation President mate patterns); and authorize the fed - and protecting their coasts. The law Julius Stratton, called coastal zones “in eral government to help states pay for also created a National Estuarine Re - many respects . . . the Nation’s most coastal-management policies. serve Research System to research and valuable geographic feature” and warned Almost simultaneously, an under - conserve large estuaries (bodies of that they were at risk. sea wellhead near Santa Barbara, Calif., water where salt and fresh water meet),

194 CQ Researcher “It was sort of an, ‘Oh my god, we were so right’ moment As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers analyzes the impact when all the electrical transformers started to blow up,” said of Superstorm Sandy, it is already replenishing beaches in pro - Susannah Drake, a landscape architect and team leader. “They jects approved before the storm. In Virginia Beach, Va., the need my waterproof vaults to put all the infrastructure under shoreline is being replenished for the 49th time since 1951. the sidewalks.” 4 “It’s designed to be a sacrificial buffer,” said Jennifer Arm - As the exhibit showed, soft shoreline engineering alone can - strong, the project manager. 6 not immunize cities from heavy floods. “It’s smaller-scale infra - structure that you do along with other changes to the built en - — Jennifer Weeks vironment,” says Beatley. Beach replenishment is another form of soft shoreline 1 For examples, see “Soft Shoreline Engineering,” U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, engineering that is widely used in areas with heavy coastal www.fws.gov/refuge/detroit_river/what_we_do/resource_management/soft_shore line_engineering.html. development, especially along the Atlantic Coast. But since 2 J. H. Hartig, M. A. Zarull, and A. Cook, “Soft Shoreline Engineering Survey of replenishment involves simply pumping sand onto beaches, Ecological Effectiveness,” Ecological Engineering , vol. 37, 2011, pp. 1231-1238. it is a temporary solution. “If a community decides to man - 3 For details see “Rising Currents: Projects for New York’s Waterfront,” Mu - age erosion that way, they will be doing it forever,” says seum of Modern Art, www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1031. 4 Brad McKee, “In New York, Drying Out,” Landscape Architecture Magazine , Robert Young, a coastal geologist and director of the Pro - Nov. 1, 2012, http://landscapearchitecturemagazine.org/2012/11/01/in-new- gram for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western york-drying-out/. Carolina University. 5 For example, see Evan Lehmann, “Superstorm Sandy Settles Long-Standing After Sandy, many observers contended that dunes (in - Argument over the Value of Dunes,” Scientific American.com , Dec. 11, 2012, www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=superstorm-sandy-settles-long-standing- cluding both engineered and natural dunes) had protected argument-over-the-value-of-dunes; and Janet Babin, “Beach Dunes Spark a some coastal communities from the full force of the storm and Battle After Sandy,” WNYC Radio, Dec. 17, 2012, www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc- mitigated the damage. 5 But Young wants more analysis. “Those news/2012/dec/17/beach_dunes_spark_battle_after_sandy/. 6 Jennifer Ludden, “Debate Over Rebuilding Beaches Creates Post-Sandy claims need to be tested scientifically before we assume they’re Waves,” National Public Radio, Jan. 30, 2013, www.npr.org/2013/01/30/170 true,” he says. 301306/debate-over-rebuilding-beaches-post-sandy-creates-waves.

such as the Chesapeake Bay. Many structed or substantially improved on early 1990s, Congress tightened penal - of these zones, which are ecologi - the islands after the law went into ef - ties for lenders who failed to enforce cally rich and harbor many species fect were ineligible for federal flood flood insurance requirements, and of fish and birds, had been heavily insurance, and FEMA disaster aid was FEMA began a public education cam - polluted and threatened by shoreline limited to emergencies that threatened paign to boost enrollment. Coverage development. lives or public health and safety. 45 rose from about 1.5 million policies The Coastal Zone Management Act “In the last six years alone, the fed - in the mid-1970s to 4 million in 1997, gave states grants for coastal protec - eral government has spent more than and the value of property insured in - tion if they adopted a management $800 million to aid development and creased from $165 billion in 1978 to plan. But some states regulated coastal redevelopment of coastal barriers,” $703 billion in 2000. 47 development more aggressively than President Ronald Reagan said. “By sign - In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita others. The act “doesn’t set standards ing [the act] into law today, this ad - struck the Gulf Coast , devastating com - for what should be in coastal man - ministration is acting to halt this sub - munities from Texas to the Florida agement plans, so it’s pretty toothless,” sidy spiral.” 46 Pan handle. Together the storms killed says Georgetown’s Byrne. nearly 1,900 people and caused more Congress took a more forceful ap - than $120 billion in damages. 48 Con - proach with the 1982 Coastal Barrier In Harm’s Way gress was forced to increase the Resources Act, which severely limited NFIP’s federal borrowing authority development on barrier islands along hrough the 1980s and ’90s, as from $1.5 billion to $20.8 billion to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The law T Americans continued to flock to cover claims. The U.S. Government recognized that these islands were the coasts, every storm put more lives Accountability Office, Congress’s over - unique land forms and protected the and property at risk. After heavy flood - sight agency, warned that the pro - mainland against storms. Buildings con - ing along the Mississippi River in the gram was not financially sound and

www.cqresearcher.com Feb. 22, 2013 195 COASTAL DEVELOPMENT

might never be able “If FEMA started to repay its loans to using sea-level rise pro - the Treasury . 49 jections like the Corps, Images of a we would see changes,” flooded New Or - says Stiles. “State plans leans af ter Katrina are written to FEMA drove home the standards, so raising that message that large bar would make a big

storms could dev - a difference.” m

astate major cities. a Other experts cite T

o

Planners and envi - i disaster relief under the r ronmental advo - a Stafford Act as a major M / s

cates warned that e driver of coastal devel - g the same thing a opment. “The Stafford Act m I

could happen along y aid puts back roads, t t

the East Coast, es - e power lines and water G pecially as climate An iconic roller coaster in Seaside Heights, N.J., sits offshore after lines after storms, which change raises sea Superstorm Sandy struck the community last October. Storm damage promotes rebuilding of levels. Several task along New Jersey’s coast was unprecedented in the state’s history, homes,” says Young of forces in 2005, 2006 according to the National Hurricane Center. Sandy inundated Western Carolina Uni - seaside towns with water and sand, swept houses from their and 2010 forecast foundations and destroyed cars, boats and boardwalks. versity. “If coastal com - that a direct hit on munities had to replace New York City by a that infrastructure them - major storm could cause massive dam - “The Federal Highway Administra - selves, their tax rates would be incred - age and disrupt transportation systems tion doesn’t have any directives re - ibly high, and property values would and financial markets. But even after quiring it to assess flood risks before be very different.” Tropical Storm Irene flooded parts of it rebuilds a highway,” says Stiles of Major disaster declarations under the city’s subway system in 2011, New Wetlands Watch. “Federal tax credits the Stafford Act have increased in re - York leaders did not take aggressive and development incentives don’t cent years, from an average of 18 per steps to flood-proof the city. 50 differentiate between coastal and in - year in the 1960s to 56 per year be - land locations. There are no drivers tween 2000 and 2009. (These num - [policy directions] that anticipate risk bers include storms, flooding, torna - over the useful lives of building does and other events, not just coastal CURRENT projects.” storms.) Some politicians have sug - One meaningful change, Stiles as - gested that states are requesting dis - serts, would be for FEMA to start con - aster declarations more frequently in SITUATION sidering sea-level rise projections in order to obtain more federal aid. its flood hazard maps. FEMA is study - But analysts say many factors could ing how climate change could affect be driving the increase. For example, Clashing Signals the National Flood Insurance Program population growth and economic de - and already has concluded that sea- velopment have put more people and s New York and New Jersey re - level rise could significantly increase property in harm’s way. 54 A cover from Sandy, many ob - the number of high-risk flood areas As Congress debates federal bud - servers say clearer signals from the across the nation this century. 51 How - get policy, some observers have pro - federal government would help states ever, sea-level rise is not factored into posed limiting Stafford Act aid. Matt manage development in hazardous FEMA’s mapping practices, so it like - Mayer, a visiting fellow at the conser - areas. Even when officials propose ly is underestimating the geographic vative Heritage Foundation, recom - limits, as Gov. Cuomo has done in breadth and severity of fl ood risks. 52 mends cutting the federal portion of New York State, critics argue that many In contrast, the Army Corps of Engi - shared costs for all FEMA declarations federal policies promote coastal de - neers requires project managers to to no more than 25 percent. 55 The velopment without considering flood - consider potential sea-level change in Congressional Research Service suggests 53 ing and storm hazards. every coastal activity . Continued on p. 198

196 CQ Researcher At Issue:

Shoyes uld the National Flood Insurance Program be privatized?

R. J. LEHMANN JON JENSEN SENIOR FELLOW , CHAIR , G OVERNMENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE , THE R S TREET INSTITUTE INDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS AND BROKERS OF AMERICA WRITTEN FOR CQ RESEARCHER , FEBRUARY 2013 FROM TESTIMONY BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC POLICY, SENATE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, he National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), in a sense, HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS, MAY 9, 2012 is responsible for the modern American suburb. Construc - t tion of the Interstate Highway System, easy mortgage in - he Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America surance from the Veterans Administration and Federal Housing (IIABA) believes that the NFIP provides a vital service to Administration and a host of federal, state and local rules favor - t people and places that have been hit by a natural disaster. ing low-density residential development all played a role in the The private insurance industry has been, and continues to be, nation’s post-war suburbanization, to be sure. But the 1968 cre - largely unable to underwrite flood insurance because of the cat - ation of the NFIP really changed the landscape, literally, by al - astrophic nature of these losses. Therefore, the NFIP is virtually lowing acres of lush river valleys and miles of coastal land to the only way for people to protect against the loss of their be transformed into manicured lawns and beachfront cottages. home or business due to flood damage. Unfortunately, after nearly 45 years the NFIP is unsustainable, Prior to the introduction of the program in 1968, the federal with some $30 billion in debt that it has no means to repay. government spent increasing sums . . . on disaster assistance With some 5.6 million policyholders across the country, the pro - to flood victims. Since then, the NFIP has saved disaster assis - gram also has sparked development in the most risk-prone and tance money and provided a more reliable system of payments environmentaylly sensitive reegions, threates ning innumerable en - for people whose pronperties have sufferoed flood damage. It is dangered species, depleting wetlands and overdeveloping barrier also important to note that for almost two decades, up until islands that serve as natural buffers against hurricanes. the 2005 hurricane season, no taxpayer money had been used Today, global warming and rising sea levels appear likely to to support the NFIP; rather, the NFIP was able to support itself make future f loods and tropical storms both more frequent and using the funds from the premiums it collected every year. . . . more severe. To prepare for that, a functioning private market Despite our strong support of the NFIP, we also recognize must be part of the solution. When property owners don’t bear that the program is far from perfect, which was made . . . the full cost of the risks they face, they are encouraged to take clear by the devastating 2005 hurricane season. . . . While on more. T ransitioning to a private, risk-based insurance market IIABA is confident that the NFIP will recover, it is important for floods will not be easy, but it is a challenge private insurers that Congress shore up the NFIP’s financial foundation and can meet, just as they have done in countries such as the United use this opportunity to enact needed reforms to ensure the Kingdom and Australia. Advances in mapping, risk modeling long-term sustainability of the program. . . . and the ability to spread risk across the globe means that most Some observers have argued that the program should be of the logistical problems the insurance industry once faced in eliminated or completely privatized. These arguments center underwriting floods have been long solved. on the assumption that the private market could step in and Private flood insurance would be expensive, although not offer flood insurance coverage. However, the IIABA has met nearly as expensive as continually rebuilding flood-prone with many insurance carriers who categorically state that the communities that have no incentive to adapt and mitigate risk private market is simply unable to underwrite this inherently because that risk is borne by others. Some policyholders may difficult catastrophic risk, especially in the most high-risk zones need financial assistance to harden their homes against flooding, where it is needed. pay their premiums or move to higher ground. But research IIABA would always prefer to utilize the private market, and by the Institute for Policy Integrity shows that the NFIP’s our members would almost certainly prefer to work directly benefits currently flow overwhelmingly to the rich, with the with private insurance carriers rather than a government wealthiest counties filing 3.5 times more claims and receiving agency. However, where there is a failure in the marketplace, $1 billion more in NFIP payments between 1998 and 2008 as there is in the case of flood insurance, we believe it is im - than the poorest counties. perative that the government step in to ensure that consumers The NFIP has helped shape the country, for good and for ill. have the protection they need. . . . We see no evidence that To tackle long-term challenges, both budgetary and environ - the private marketplace is any more prepared or capable of underwriting flood risk in 2012 than . . . in 1968. mentalno, it must be phased out.

www.cqresearcher.com Feb. 22, 2013 197 COASTAL DEVELOPMENT

Continued from p. 196 and information systems and requir - decades due to climate change has a more moderate option: reducing to ing that all future administrators have been a highly complex issue for cli - 50 percent the federal share of aid knowledge of emergency manage - mate scientists in recent years. for communities that don’t require ment and five years of executive ex - When the Intergovernmental Panel storm mitigation. The aid helps pay perience. 59 Fugate is a former vol - on Climate Change (IPCC, the inter - for measures to reduce harm from fu - unteer firefighter and paramedic who national scientific body that evaluates ture disasters, such as installing flood ran Florida’s emergency management climate science) published its last control barriers or raising the height agency for eight years before being major assessment in 2007, it estimated of homes . 56 appointed in 2009. that warming of Earth’s surface would Under Fugate, many officials say, raise global sea levels 7 to 24 inch - FEMA’s response to disasters has be - es by 2100 . 65 But more recent stud - A New FEMA come faster and more effective. “I’ve ies indicate that these numbers were been very impressed with the ded - too low. ne positive aspect of the re - icated professionals FEMA has put A peer-reviewed article published O sponse to Sandy was FEMA’s on the ground here in Tuscaloosa,” by a German research team late last performance. The agency was harsh - Mayor Walter Maddox said after tor - year found that the world’s oceans ly criticized for reacting slowly and nadoes killed 238 people in Alaba - were rising 60 percent faster than the feebly in 2005 when Hurricane Kat - ma in April 2011. 60 IPCC’s projections, which did not take rina inundated New Orleans. But under As Sandy moved up the Atlantic into account the full effects of the its current administrator, W. Craig Fu - coast last October, FEMA pre-posi - melting of ice sheets in Greenland and gate, FEMA appears to have regained tioned water, meals, cots, blankets, Antarctica. Based on this finding, the credibility. generators and other equipment at lead author estimated that sea levels Since its creation in 1979, FEMA has support bases in Massachusetts and would rise between 20 inches and struggled to define clear goals and re - New Jersey; set up five staging areas three feet by 2100. 66 spond efficiently to large-scale disas - in New York and deployed more than Other research shows that sea levels ters. Reorganization in 1993 brought 1,000 personnel in advance of the are not rising uniformly. Last summer some improvements, but over the next storm. 61 Thousands more FEMA staff the U.S. Geological Survey reported that decade FEMA was widely criticized for followed to help displaced residents sea levels along the U.S. East Coast, employing political appointees lacking find shelter and provide other ser - from North Carolina to Massachusetts, relevant experience. 57 vices. Within six weeks of the storm, were rising 2 to 3.7 millimeters (0.08 When Hurricane Katrina breached the agency had distributed more than to 0.15 inches) per year — three to several levees and flooded New Or - $1 billion in cash assistance to vic - four times faster than globally — due leans in August 2005, trapping 70,000 tims, mostly in New York and New to changes in ocean circulation patterns. people who had not evacuated, FEMA Jersey. 62 Reviews were largely posi - Cities in this zone would be highly vul - did not have enough food, water, tive: New Jersey Gov. Christie called nerable to flooding during storms, the medicine or transportation to help FEMA “outstanding.” 63 authors said. 67 residents. Several days into the cri - Fugate has called for more frank dis - “We’ve learned in the past several sis, with Louisiana officials pleading cussion about risks to communities years that impacts are more severe for help, FEMA Administrator Michael from climate change. “We cannot afford than we previously thought,” says Co - Brown (who had previously been com - to continue to respond to disasters and lumbia University climate scientist missioner of the International Arabi - deal with the consequences under the Radley Horton. “Now the worst-case an Horse Association) asked the De - current model,” he said last year. “We scenario projects that global sea lev - fense Department to take over logistics. don’t have a good way of communi - els could rise as much as six feet by Nonetheless, President George W. Bush cating and managing risk at the na - 2100. The biggest remaining uncer - told him publicly, “Brownie, you’re tional level. When we undervalue risk, tainty is what will happen to that land doing a heck of a job” — demon - we tend not to plan for it. ” 64 ice in Greenland and West Antarctica. strating to critics that Bush did not We know it won’t all melt, but even understand conditions on the ground if 5 to 10 percent melts, that will have in New Orleans. Brown resigned a Rising Seas a big impact.” week later. 58 Congress overhauled FEMA in 2006, stimating how quickly sea-level directing it to improve its logistics E rise will accelerate in coming

198 CQ Researcher and a requirement for developers to p. 120, www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL182012_ address climate change risks when Sandy.pdf . OUTLOOK applying for building permits . 68 4 Ibid. 5 Many other areas are less prepared. “Report: Sandy Was USA’s Second-Costliest According to the Natural Resources Hurricane,” The Associated Press, Feb. 12, 2013, www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/ Defense Council, an environmental Resilient Coastlines 02/12/hurricane-sandy-weather-katrina/1912941 /. advocacy group, by mid-2012 only nine 6 For background, see Adriel Bettelheim, lthough the long-term impacts of states had comprehensive plans to ad - “Coastal Development,” CQ Researcher , Aug. 21, A Sandy are still unfolding, scien - dress flooding and other water-related 1998, pp. 721-744. tists and environmentalists say the giant climate change effects. Some extreme - 7 “The NFIP Floodplain management Re - storm may lead to new thinking about ly vulnerable states — including Flori - quirements,” Federal Emergency Management coastal development — if leaders and da and Virginia, whose governors do Agency, www.fema.gov/pdf/floodplain/nfip_ communities recognize that Sandy was not see climate change as a threat — sg_unit_5.pdf . A 100-year flood is one that not a fluke. lag far behind. 69 has a 1 percent chance of flooding in any “This is a teachable moment, and In fact, coastal experts say reduc - given year. 8 it could make people start rethinking ing risky practices makes political sense. “Understanding the Stafford Act: Its Effect on Public Entities,” Public Risk Management Asso - unsustainable practices before the next “This ought to be an issue where en - ciation, www.primacentral.org/resources/Staf storm,” says Stiles of Wetlands Watch. vironmentalists and fiscal conserva - ford%20Act%20FAQs.pdf . To drive lasting change, experts tives can agree on doing things dif - 9 “Disaster Declarations,” Federal Emergency widely agree that laws and policies ferently,” says Young. “Rebuilding in Management Agency, www.fema.gov/disasters . should be amended to reduce incen - flood zones is an easy decision when 10 For background, see Pamela M. Prah, “Dis - tives for coastal development. “We owners are spending other people’s aster Preparedness,” CQ Researcher , Nov. 18, should end subsidies for rebuilding in money. We shouldn’t be taking all the 2005, pp. 981-1004. the most vulnerable coastal areas, in - economic risk for them.” 11 Russell Goldman, “Chris Christie Calls ‘Dis - cluding programs like beach nourish - And, experts warn, states that fail gusting’ Boehner’s Decision to Yank Sandy ment,” says Western Carolina Univer - to plan for rising seas will pay in Funds,” ABC News, Jan. 2, 2013, http://abc sity’s Young. “You could do it in an the long run. “There are three ways news.go.com/Politics/chris-christie-calls-disgust ing-boehners-decision-yank-sandy/story?id=18 organized way — for example, by ta - to respond to climate change: You 114029 . pering off funding over a decade, or can adapt, mitigate or suffer,” says 12 J. Wylie Donald, “Will Climate Change Con - giving people one or two strikes [be - Fugate of Rhode Island’s Coastal Re - siderations Affect Rebuilding After Sandy?” fore making them ineligible for money sources Management Council. “The Climatelawyers.com, Nov. 27, 2012, http://cli to rebuild]. If communities had to deal less mitigation you do, the more adap - matelawyers.com/post/2012/11/27/Will-Climate - with these issues themselves, they tation and suffering you’ll have to Change-Considerations-Affect-Rebuilding-After- would make better decisions.” do. And the longer you wait, the Sandy-The-Short-Answer-is-Yes.aspx . Flooding in New York City during more expensive mitigation and adap - 13 For example, see Serge Dedina, “Hurricane Sandy was a warning for coastal cities. tation become.” Sandy, Climate Change, Sand Replenishment “We need to find ways to make cities and Surf,” Encinitas Patch , Oct. 31, 2012, livable in the aftermath of big storms,” http://encinitas.patch.com/articles/hurricane- sandy-climate-change-sand-replenishment-surf ; says Beatley of the University of Vir - Notes and Kate Spinner, “Beach Renourishment May ginia. “People may have to live with - Harm Ecosystem,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune , out power or water for some time, so 1 Sandy set records for low pressure (mea - Feb. 19, 2012, www.heraldtribune.com/article/ we should be designing structures sured in millibars) in Atlantic City and other 20120219/ARTICLE/120219439/2416/NEWS . with features like natural day lighting nearby locations. Lower pressure at the center 14 For background, see Chanan Tigay, “Ex - and ventilation. That will make them of hurricanes and tropical storms corresponds treme Weather,” CQ Researcher , Sept. 9, 2011, more resilient.” to stronger storms. See Andrew Freedman, “Sta - pp. 733-756; Reed Karaim, “Climate Change,” Some states and cities are already tistics Show Hurricane Sandy’s Extraordinary In - CQ Global Researcher , Feb. 1, 2010, pp. 25-50; taking Sandy as a warning. For ex - tensity,” Climate Central , Nov. 1, 2012, www. and Colin Woodard, “Curbing Climate Change,” ample, Mayor Thomas Menino of climatecentral.org/news/statistics-show-just-how- CQ Global Researcher , Feb. 1, 2007, pp. 25-48. intense-hurricane-sandy-was-15196 . 15 Boston recently announced steps to “Sea-Level Rise for the Coasts of California, 2 Ibid. Oregon, and Washington: Past, Present, and better prepare the city for Sandy-like 3 See Eric S. Blake, et al. , “Tropical Cyclone Future,” National Research Council, 2012 , p. 4, storms, including surveys of all build - Report: Hurricane Sandy,” National Hurricane www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13389 . ings and subway lines in flood zones Center, Feb. 12, 2013, p. 14, and Tables 8, 9, (Figures are converted from centimeters.)

www.cqresearcher.com Feb. 22, 2013 199 COASTAL DEVELOPMENT

16 Melanie Gade, “Sea-Level Rise Accelerat - edu/feature/north_carolina_costly_mistake_on_ 32 New York City Panel on Climate Change, ing on U.S. Atlantic Coast,” Sound Waves (U.S. climate_change/2543 /; Alan I. Leshner and “Climate Change Adaptation in New York Geological Survey), September/October 2012, William L. Chameides, “N.C. Can’t Outlaw City: Building a Risk Management Response,” http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2012/10/research. Global Climate Change,” Raleigh News & Ob - Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences , html . server , Aug. 1, 2012, www.newsobserver. vol. 1196, 2010, p. 76, http://onlinelibrary.wiley. 17 For example, see Kerry Emanuel, What We com/2012/08/01/2234915/nc-cant-outlaw-global- com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05318.x/pdf . Know about Climate Change , second edition climate.html . 33 “Recommendations to Improve the Strength (MIT Press, 2012); and “ ‘Storm of the Centu ry’ 25 Sue Sturgis, “NC Coastal Planning Faces and Resilience of the Empire State’s Infrastruc - May Become ‘Storm of the Decade,’ ” Science Tide of Campaign Cash,” Charlotte Business ture,” op. cit. , p. 123. Daily , Feb. 23, 2012, www.sciencedaily.com/ Journal , July 20, 2012, www.bizjournals.com/ 34 Alan Feuer, “Protecting the City, Before Next releases/2012/02/120223133216.htm . charlotte/print-edition/2012/07/20/coastal-plann Time,” The New York Times , Nov. 3, 2012 , www. 18 Orrin H. Pilkey, “We Need to Retreat From ing-faces-tide-of.html?page=all . nytimes.com/2012/11/04/nyregion/ protecting- the Beach,” The New York Times , Nov. 15, 2012, 26 See Jessica Grannis, “Analysis of How the new-york-city-before-next-time.html? pagewant www.nytimes.com/2012/11/15/opinion/a-beach Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (H.R. ed=all . front-retreat.html . 4348) May Affect State and Local Adaptation 35 Jeffrey D. Sachs, Andrew D. Mellinger and 19 Anna Sale, “Christie and Cuomo’s Dueling Efforts,” Georgetown Climate Center, Aug. 1, John L. Gallup, “The Geography of Poverty Visions for Post-Sandy Rebuilding,” WNYC Radio, 2012, www.georgetownclimate.org/sites/default/ and Wealth,” Scientific American , March 2001, Nov. 23, 2012, www.wnyc.org/articles/its-free- files/Analysis%20of%20the%20Flood%20Insur www.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/about/ country/2012/nov/23/christie-and-cuomos- ance%20Reform%20Act%20of%202012.pdf . director/documents/sciam0301.pdf ; Jared Dia - dueling-visions-post-sandy-rebuilding /. 27 Justin Gillis and Felicity Barringer, “As Coasts mond , “What Makes Countries Rich or Poor?’ 20 Todd B. Bates, “N.J. Sandy Rebuilding Rebuild and U.S. Pays, Repeatedly, the Critics New York Review of Books , June 7, 2012, www. Rules: Go Higher or Pay More,” USA Today , Ask Why,” The New York Times , Nov. 18, 2012, nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/jun/07/what - Jan. 25, 2013, www.usatoday.com/story/news/ www.nytimes.com/2012/11/19/science/earth/ makes-countries-rich-or-poor/?pagination=false . nation/2013/01/25/sandy-rebuilding-flood-maps/ as-coasts-rebuild-and-us-pays-again-critics-stop- 36 “Becoming American: The British Atlantic 1863761 /. to-ask-why.html?pagewanted=all . Colonies, 1690-1763,” National Humanities Cen - 21 Ken Lovett, “NY Could Buy Out Flood 28 David M. Halbfinger, “Post-Storm Cost May ter, http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/ Zones’ Hurricane Sandy Victims: Gov. Cuomo,” Force Many From Coast Life,” The New York becomingamer/growth/text2/text2read.htm . New York Daily News , Jan. 24, 2013, www.ny Times , Nov. 28, 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/ 37 See “Unit 2: National Flood Insurance Pro - dailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2013/01/state- 11/29/nyregion/cost-of-coastal-living-to-climb- gram,” Federal Emergency Management Ad - could-buy-out-flood-zones-hurricane-sandy- under-new-flood-rules.html?pagewanted=all . ministration, pp. 2-3, www.fema.gov/pdf/flood victims-gov-cuomo?print=true . 29 For details see Texas A&M University, “Ike plain/nfip_sg_unit_2.pdf . 22 Thomas Kaplan, “Cuomo Seeking Home Dike,” www.tamug.edu/ikedike /. 38 Sen. Tom Coburn, “Washed Out to Sea: Buyouts in Flood Zones,” The New York Times , 30 Eric Berger, “Ike Dike May Be Among Sandy’s How Congress Prioritizes Beach Pork Over Feb. 3, 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/ Casualties,” Houston Chronicle , Nov. 4, 2012, National Needs,” May 2009, pp. 9-10, www.co nyregion/cuomo-seeking-home-buyouts-in- www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/ burn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve flood-zones.html?hp . article/Ike-Dike-may-be-among-Sandy-s-casual &File_id=e12c6935-f034-4d9e-b7b3-093cf98a4ff9 . 23 For background, see Kenneth Jost, “Property ties-4005871.php . 39 “Hurricanes: Science and Society,” www.hur Rights,” CQ Researcher , March 4, 2005, pp. 197- 31 “Recommendations to Improve the Strength ricanescience.org/history/storms/1960s/betsy /. 220. and Resilience of the Empire State’s Infrastructure,” 40 Facts on Hurricane Agnes from “Hurricane 24 Rob Young, “Shoot the Messenger: Carolina’s NYS 2100 Commission, January 2013, p. 121, Agnes,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad - Costly Mistake on Sea Level Rise,” Yale En - www.rockefellerfoundation.org/uploads/ files/7 ministration , www.nhc.noaa.gov/outreach/his vironment 360 , June 18, 2012, http://e360.yale. c012997-176f-4e80-bf9c-b473ae9bbbf3.pdf. tory/#agnes . 41 U.S. Census Bureau figures. 42 “Coastline Population Trends in the Unit - About the Author ed States: 1960 to 2008,” U.S. Census Bureau, p. 24, www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p25-1139. Jennifer Weeks is a Massachusetts freelance writer who pdf . specializes in energy, the environment and science. She 43 For background, see “Mary. H. Cooper, has written for The Washington Post , Audubon , Popular “Threatened Fisheries,” CQ Researcher , Aug. 2, Mechanics and other magazines and previously was a pol - 2002, pp. 617-648. 44 icy analyst, congressional staffer and lobbyist. She has an “Our Nation and the Sea: A Plan for National A.B. degree from Williams College and master’s degrees Action,” Commission on Marine Science, Engi - neering and Resources,” January 1969 , pp. 49- from the University of North Carolina and Harvard. Her 57, www.lib.noaa.gov/=noaainfo/heritage/strat recent CQ Researcher reports include “Gulf Coast Restora - ton/title.html . tion” and “Energy Policy.” 45 “Coastal Barrier Resources Act Fact Sheet,” Federal Emergency Management Agency,

200 CQ Researcher www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=3818 . 46 “Statement on signing the Coastal Barrier Resources Act,” Oct.18, 1982, www.presidency. FOR MORE INFORMATION ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=41879 . 47 Erwann O. Michel-Kerjan, “Catastrophe Eco - Federal Emergency Management Agency , 500 C St., S.W., Washington, DC 20472 ; 202-646-2500 ; www.fema.gov . Part of the Department of Homeland Security that helps nomics: The National Flood Insurance Program,” federal, state and local governments, private organizations and the public prepare for Journal of Economic Perspectives , vol. 24, no. 4 and respond to natural and manmade disasters; manages National Flood Insurance (Fall 2010), p. 169, http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/ Program. pdfplus/10.1257/jep.24.4.165 . 48 See reports for hurricanes Katrina and Rita Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America , 127 South Peyton St., at www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL122005_Ka Alexandria, VA 22314 ; 800-221-7917 ; www.iiaba.org . A national alliance of indepen - trina.pdf and www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR- dent insurance agents and brokers. AL182005_Rita.pdf . 49 “Federal Emergency Management Agency: Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management , National Oceanic and Ongoing Challenges Facing the National Flood Atmospheric Administration, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 ; Insurance Program” GAO-08-118T, U.S. Govern - 301-713-3155 ; http://coastalmanagement.noaa.gov . An office of the federal govern - ment Accountability Office, Oct. 2, 2007, p. 6, ment’s “oceans agency” that helps keep America’s coastlines healthy and resilient. www.gao.gov/assets/120/117930.pdf . 50 David W. Chen and Mireya Navarro, “For Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines , Western Carolina University, Years, Warnings That It Could Happen Here,” Belk 294, Cullowhee, NC 28734 ; 828-227-7519 ; www.wcu.edu/1037.asp . Analyzes coastal management issues and advocates for the long-term sustainability of The New York Times , Oct. 30, 2012, www.ny coastal ecosystems. times.com/2012/10/31/nyregion/for-years- warnings-that-storm-damage-could-ravage-new- Wetlands Watch , P.O. Box 9335, Norfolk, VA 23505 ; 757-623-4835 ; www.wetlands york.html ; “New York Superstorm Warnings watch.org . Nonprofit advocacy group working to save wetlands in Virginia. Went Unheeded for Decades, Observers Say,” The Associated Press, Dec. 9, 2012, www. insurancejournal.com/news/east/2012/12/09/ 59 Keith Bea, et al. , “Federal Emergency Man - 64 “Speech by FEMA Administrator Craig Fu - 273239.htm . agement Policy Changes After Hurricane Ka - gate before the U.S. Green Building Coun - 51 “FEMA Climate Change Adaptation Policy trina: A Summary of Statutory Provisions,” cil,” Feb. 29, 2012, http://vimeo.com/37815679 , Statement,” Jan. 23, 2012, p. 2, item IV.A.2, http:// Congressional Research Service, Nov. 15, 2006 , and Q&A, http://vimeo.com/37822838 . stormsmart.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/ pp. 9-10, 22-23, http://training.fema.gov/EMI 65 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, group-documents/22/1328980794-FEMACCA Web/edu/docs/Federal%20EM%20Policy%20 Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report, table PolicyStatement12312.pdf . Changes%20After%20Katrina.pdf . SPM 1, www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ 52 Grannis, op. cit. , p. 5. 60 Jeff Bliss and Mark Niquette, “Almost Six ar4/syr/en/spms3.html#table-spm-1 . The increase 53 Current guidance is at http://planning.usace. Years After Katrina Debacle, FEMA’s Reputation is relative to levels in the period 1980-1999. army.mil/toolbox/library/ECs/EC11652212Nov Stages Recovery,” Bloomberg News, May 27, 66 Miguel Llanos, “Sea Level Rose 60 Percent 2011.pdf . 2011, www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-27/ Faster Than UN Projections, Study Finds,” NBC 54 Bruce R. Lindsay and Francis X. McCarthy, almost-six-years-after-katrina-debacle-fema-s- News.com, Nov. 28, 2012, http://worldnews. “Stafford Act Declarations 1953-2011: Trends and reputation-stages-recovery.html . nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/28/15512957-sea- Analyses, and Implications for Congress,” Con - 61 “Testimony of FEMA Administrator Craig level-rose-60-percent-faster-than-un-projections- gressional Research Service, Aug. 31, 2012, Fugate before the House Transportation and study-finds?lite ; Anil Ananthaswamy, “Projec - pp. 8-13, www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/ R42702. Infrastructure Committee,” Dec. 4, 2012, www. tions of Sea Level Rise Are Vast Underestimates,” pdf . dhs.gov/news/2012/12/04/written-testimony- New Scientist , Nov. 29, 2012, www.newscientist. 55 Matt A. Mayer, “Hurricane Sandy: Disaster fema-administrator-house-committee-transpor com/article/dn22561-projections-of-sea-level- Aid Request Too Big,” Heritage Foundation, tation-and . rise-are-vast-underestimates.html . Dec. 13, 2012, www.heritage.org/research/ 62 Eric Liption and Winnie Hu, “Sandy Victims 67 Melanie Gade, “Sea-Level Rise Accelerating reports/2012/12/hurricane-sandy-disaster-aid- Get Generous Boost from FEMA,” The Boston on U.S. Atlantic Coast,” Sound Waves , U.S. request-too-big . Globe , Dec. 18, 2012, www.bostonglobe.com/ Geological Survey, Sept./Oct. 2012, http:// 56 Lindsay and McCarthy, op. cit. , p. 25. news/nation/2012/12/18/sandy-victims-get-gene soundwaves.usgs.gov/2012/10/research.html . 57 See Patrick Roberts, “FEMA After Katrina,” rous-boost-from-fema/cj0P4INHs7TGDJrVYjy 68 “Mayor Menino Announces Comprehensive Policy Review , June 1, 2006, www.hoover.org/ GSL/story.html . Actions to Better Prepare Boston for Storms publications/policy-review/article/7897 . 63 Steve Vogel “Officials and Experts Praising Like Sandy,” Feb. 5, 2013, www.cityof boston. 58 Spencer S. Hsu and Susan B. Glasser, “FEMA FEMA for its Response to Hurricane Sandy,” gov/news/default.aspx?id=5959 . Director Singled Out by Response Critics,” The The Washington Post , Nov. 1, 2012, http://ar 69 “Ready or Not: How Water-Ready Is Your Washington Post , Sept. 6, 2005, www.washing ticles.washingtonpost.com/2012-11-01/politics/ State Or City?” Natural Resources Defense Coun - tonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/ 35505866_1_natural-disasters-fema-federal-dis cil, www.nrdc.org/water/readiness /. 05/AR2005090501590.html . aster-response .

www.cqresearcher.com Feb. 22, 2013 201 Bibliography Selected Sources

Books New York and New Jersey had allowed intensive devel - opment in areas that were heavily damaged by Hurricane Helvarg , David , The Golden Shore: California’s Love Af - Sandy, despite known risks from direct storm hits. fair with the Sea , St. Martin’s Press , 2013 . A journalist and ocean conservation advocate recounts the Salkeld , Luke , and Ray Massey , “Thames Barrier Shuts history of California’s scenic 1,100-mile coastline and steps for the First Time in Two Years to Prevent Flooding in that Californians are taking to protect it. London as Fresh Atlantic Storm Promises Yet More Rain,” Daily Mail , Dec. 27, 2012 , www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar Kahrl , Andrew W. , The Land Was Ours: African American ticle-2253624/Thames-Barrier-shuts-time-years-prevent- Beaches from Jim Crow to the Sunbelt South , Harvard Uni - flooding-London-fresh-Atlantic-storm-promises-rain.html . versity Press , 2012 . Britain’s wettest year on record led to activation of Lon - A professor of history at Marquette University describes don’s floodgates in late December. how coastal development in mid-Atlantic and southern states after 1950 pushed many African Americans off their land. Wallack , Todd , “Homeowners Question the Use of Storm Models,” The Boston Globe , Jan. 6, 2013 , www.boston Pilkey , Orrin M. , et al. , The World’s Beaches: A Global globe.com/business/2013/01/06/air-worldwide-tracked- Guide to the Science of the Shoreline , University of Cali - sandy-now-says-monster-storm-will-strike-new-england- fornia Press , 2011 . someday/NrEB3QX7RxOxY30GmXXhvK/story.html . Four prominent academic experts in earth science and Weather-modeling companies generate storm risk estimates coastal studies explain waves, tides, winds and other forces that insurers use to set rates for homeowners. that make and alter beaches. Reports and Studies Articles “Recommendations to Improve the Strength and Re - “Shifting Sands: Sandy’s Lessons in Coastal Geology,” silience of the Empire State’s Infrastructure,” NYS 2100 U.S. Geological Survey , Nov. 15, 2012 , www.usgs.gov/ Commission , January 2013 , www.rockefellerfoundation. blogs/features/usgs_top_story/shifting-sands-sandys-lessons- org/uploads/files/7c012997-176f-4e80-bf9c-b473ae9bbb in-coastal-geology/?from=textlink . f3.pdf . Damage from Hurricane Sandy left large sections of the An expert panel convened by Gov. Andrew Cuomo after East Coast more vulnerable to future storms. Adapting to Hurricane Sandy to guide rebuilding and preparation for fu - those changes by relocating buildings may be more effec - ture disasters lists short-, medium- and long-term priorities tive than trying to rebuild dunes that move naturally. to guide rebuilding.

Florida , Richard , and Sarah Johnson , “Making Our Coastal Burkett , Virginia , and Margaret Davidson , eds., Coastal Cities More Resilient Can’t Wait,” The Atlantic Cities , Impacts, Adaptations, and Vulnerabilities: A Technical Nov. 1, 2012 , www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/ Input to the 2013 National Climate Assessment , Island Press , 2012/11/making-our-cities-more-resilient-cant-wait/3758 /. 2013 , http://downloads.usgcrp.gov/NCA/technicalinput Coastal cities are critical economic engines, so making them reports/Burkett_Davidson_Coasts_Final_.pdf . more resistant to natural disasters is urgent. A review by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, part of a periodic national climate study, finds that coastal Frazier , Ian , “The Toll,” The New Yorker , Feb. 11-18, 2013 , U.S. communities will face many challenges adapting to cli - www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/02/11/130211fa_fact_ mate change in the coming years. frazier . Staten Island bore much of the force of Sandy, and was Kousky , Carolyn , and Erwann Michel-Kerjan , “Hurricane the site of 23 deaths. Sandy, Storm Surge, and the National Flood Insurance Program: A Primer on New York and New Jersey ,” Issue Klinenberg , Eric , “Adaptation,” The New Yorker , Jan. 7, 2013 . Brief 12-08, Resources for the Future/Wharton Risk Center , Rotterdam and Singapore offer lessons for U.S. cities in November 2012 , www.rff.org/RFF/Documents/RFF-IB-12- flood-proofing. 08.pdf . A Washington, D.C., think tank and the Wharton School Rudolf , John , et al. , “Hurricane Sandy Damage Amplified of Business estimate that the National Flood Insurance Pro - by Breakneck Development of Coast,” The Huffington Post , gram will need to increase its borrowing authority to pay Nov. 12, 2012 , www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/12/hurri claims in New York and New Jersey from Hurricane Sandy. cane-sandy-damage_n_2114525.html .

202 CQ Researcher The Next Step: Additional Articles from Current Periodicals

Climate Change for the construction of a $6 billion sea wall to protect New York City from storm surges. Gillis , Justin , “Sea Level Rise Seen as Threat to 3.7 Million,” The New York Times , March 14, 2012 , p. A1 , www.nytimes. Rosenthal , Elisabeth , “Hurricane Exposed Flaws in Pro - com/2012/03/14/science/earth/study-rising-sea-levels-a- tection of Tunnels,” The New York Times , Nov. 10, 2012 , risk-to-coastal-states.html . p. A15 , www.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/nyregion/hurricane- Nearly 4 million Americans are at risk of being hit by more sandy-showed-vulnerability-of-citys-tunnels.html . frequent coastal flooding in coming decades, says the re - Many engineers have criticized New York City for not installing search group Climate Central. floodgates in its tunnels to safeguard against hurricanes.

Spotts , Pete , “Surging Storms: Can the US Adapt in Time Wells , Ken , and Mark Drajem , “Billions on Flood Barriers to Avert Coastal Damage?” The Christian Science Mon - Now Might Save New York City,” Bloomberg, Nov. 9, 2012 , itor , Nov. 13, 2012 , www.csmonitor.com/Environment/ www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-09/billions-on-flood- 2012/1113/Surging-storms-Can-the-US-adapt-in-time-to- barriers-now-might-save-new-york-city-l.html . avert-coastal-damage . Putting floodgates at key points near Manhattan could cut Experts say rising sea levels will make surge floods a lot future flooding by 25 percent, say engineers. more frequent in certain coastal “hot spots.” Regulations Tam , Donna , “Coastal Commission Exec Looks at Challenges Ahead,” Eureka (Calif.) Times Standard , April 27, 2012 . Latini Jr. , Charles , and James Rausse , “We Can’t Afford Climate change will challenge future coastal developments, More Sandys, So Let’s Rebuild Intelligently,” Star-Ledger says the executive director of California’s coastal panel. (N.J.), Dec. 9, 2012 , p. 5 , blog.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/ 2012/12/we_cant_afford_more_sandys_so.html . National Flood Insurance Program Coastal communities should require new developments to be more storm-proof, say two American Planning Associa - Ryan , Joe , “Homeowners on Insurance: That’s Just Low,” tion officials. Newsday (N.Y.), Nov. 28, 2012 , p. A4 , www.newsday.com/ business/in-oceanside-painful-insurance-lesson-on-base Loftis , Randy Lee , “Risks on the Rise for Texas,” Dallas ments-1.4266757 . Morning News , Aug. 30, 2012 , p. A1 , www.dallasnews. com/ The federal National Flood Insurance Program, unlike regular news/state/headlines/20120829-scientists-warn-of-increased- homeowner insurance, covers damage caused by flooding. risks-to-texas-from-hurricanes-and-tropical-storms.ece . Inadequate building codes are reducing the ability of Texas Spoto , MaryAnn , “Christie Demands Insurers Expedite coastal communities to handle natural disasters, says a Texas Flooding Claims,” Star-Ledger (N.J.), Feb. 6, 2013 , p. 8 , A&M landscape architecture professor. www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/02/christie_unhappy_ with_resoluti.html . CITING CQ RESEARCHER Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey says he is Sample formats for citing these reports in a bibliography frustrated with how long it’s taking the National Flood Insur - ance Program to process Superstorm Sandy claims . include the ones listed below. Preferred styles and formats vary, so please check with your instructor or professor. Zito , Salena , “Rothfus Defends Vote Against Sandy Leg - islation,” Pittsburgh Tribune Review , Jan. 17, 2013 , trib MLA STYLE live.com/news/adminpage/3239127-74/rothfus-bill-vote# Jost, Kenneth. “Remembering 9/11.” CQ Researcher 2 Sept. axzz2Kicf6JuL . 2011: 701-732. Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-Pa., says the National Flood Insurance Program can’t afford the best relief for Sandy’s victims. APA S TYLE New York City Jost, K. (2011, September 2). Remembering 9/11. CQ Re - searcher, 9 , 701-732. Peltz , Jennifer , and Peter Svensson , “NYC Urged to Build CHICAGO STYLE $6B Barrier After Sandy,” The Associated Press, Nov. 2, 2012 , bigstory.ap.org/article/storm-invigorates-proponents- Jost, Kenneth. “Remembering 9/11.” CQ Researcher , September nyc-sea-barrier . 2, 2011, 701-732. The damage caused by Hurricane Sandy has renewed calls

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