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.