Coastal Zone Management Act Section 309 Program Guidance

Guam Coastal Management Program Bureau of Statistics and Plans 2020-2025 DRAFT October 2020 This document was prepared for the Guam Coastal Management Program (GCMP) under the Bureau of Statistics and Plans (BSP), with financial assistance provided by the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, administered by the Office for Coastal Management (OCM), National Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The statements, findings, and conclusions are those of the authors and not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA. Suggested citation: Bureau of Statistics and Plans – Guam Coastal Management Program (BSP-GCMP). 2020. 2020-2025 Section 309 Assessment and Strategy Report. For more information about this report please contact the Guam Coastal Management Program at 671.472.4201/2/3 or Edwin Reyes, Coastal Program Administrator at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">. </a>Table of Contents <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#5_0">I. </a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#5_0">Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................1 </a></li></ul><a href="#7_0">II. Summary</a><a href="#7_0"> </a><a href="#7_0">of Recent Section 309 Achievements................................................................................................3 </a><a href="#7_1">2011-2015 Section 309 Achievements......................................................................................................................3 </a><a href="#8_0">2015-2020 Section 309 Achievements......................................................................................................................5 </a><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#11_0">III. </a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#11_0">Assessment ......................................................................................................................................................7 </a></li></ul><a href="#11_1">Phase I (High-Level) Assessment .............................................................................................................................7 </a><a href="#11_2">Wetlands ...............................................................................................................................................................7 </a><a href="#18_0">Coastal Hazards .................................................................................................................................................14 </a><a href="#0_0">Public Acces</a><a href="#0_0">s</a><a href="#0_0">.</a><a href="#0_0">.....................................................................................................................................................26 </a><a href="#0_0">Marine Debris.....................................................................................................................................................32 </a><a href="#0_1">Cumulative and Secondary Impacts....................................................................................................................37 </a><a href="#0_0">Special Area Management Planning...................................................................................................................45 </a><a href="#0_2">Ocean and Great Lakes Resources .....................................................................................................................56 </a><a href="#0_3">Energy and Government Facility Siting..............................................................................................................68 </a><a href="#0_0">Aquaculture.........................................................................................................................................................75 </a><a href="#0_0">Phase II (In-Depth) Assessmen</a><a href="#0_0">t</a><a href="#0_0">.</a><a href="#0_0">.............................................................................................................................82 </a><a href="#0_4">Coastal Hazards .................................................................................................................................................82 </a><a href="#0_5">Cumulative and Secondary Impacts....................................................................................................................88 </a><a href="#0_6">Special Area Management Planning.................................................................................................................102 </a><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#0_0">IV. </a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#0_0">Strategy........................................................................................................................................................107 </a></li></ul><a href="#0_7">Strategy #1: Special Area Management Codification ...........................................................................................107 </a><a href="#0_0">Strategy #2: Special Area Management Implementation Tools ............................................................................116 </a><a href="#0_0">5-Year Budget Summary by Strategy....................................................................................................................122 </a><a href="#0_0">V. Summary</a><a href="#0_0"> </a><a href="#0_0">of Stakeholder Engagement and Public Comment.....................................................................123 </a><a href="#0_8">Stakeholder Engagement.......................................................................................................................................123 </a><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#0_0">VI. </a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#0_0">Key References............................................................................................................................................127 </a></li></ul><a href="#0_8">Appendix I </a><a href="#0_8">– </a><a href="#0_8">Survey Results and Stakeholder Meeting Document</a><a href="#0_8">s</a><a href="#0_8">.</a><a href="#0_8">..................................................................127 </a><a href="#0_6">Appendix II </a><a href="#0_6">– </a><a href="#0_6">Public Comments ............................................................................................................................193 </a><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">Guam Coastal Management Program </li><li style="flex:1">Section 309 Assessment & Strategy: 2020 to 2025 </li></ul>List of Acronyms <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">A&S </li><li style="flex:1">Assessment & Strategy </li></ul><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">APC </li><li style="flex:1">Area of Particular Concern </li></ul>BSP BMPs CMP Guam Bureau of Statistics and Plans Best Management Practices Coastal Management Program <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">Coral Reef Initiative </li><li style="flex:1">CRI </li></ul>CRM CSI Coastal Resources Management Cumulative and Secondary Impacts Coastal Zone Management Coastal Zone Management Act Guam Department of Agriculture Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Insurance Rate Map Flood Insurance Study CZM CZMA DoAg FEMA FIRM FIS <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">GIS </li><li style="flex:1">Geographic Information System </li></ul><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">Global Mean Sea Level </li><li style="flex:1">GMSL </li></ul>GCMP GEPA GHMP GHPO GPWA GVB Guam Coastal Management Program Guam Environmental Protection Agency Guam Hazard Mitigation Plan Guam Historic Preservation Office Guam Power and Water Authority Guam Visitor’s Bureau <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">LID </li><li style="flex:1">Low impact development </li></ul>MPA NPA Marine Protected Area National Park Service NOAA NWI NGLA OCM SAMP SLR National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Wetlands Inventory Northern Guam Lens Aquifer Office of Coastal Management (NOAA) Special Area Management Plan Sea Level Rise TMDL USACE USEPA USDA USFWS UoG Total Maximum Daily Load United States Army Corps of Engineers United States Environmental Protection Agency United States Department of Agriculture United States Fish and Wildlife Services University of Guam UXO WERI WQS Unexploded Ordnance Water and Environmental Research Institute Water Quality Standard iv <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">Guam Coastal Management Program </li><li style="flex:1">Section 309 Assessment & Strategy: 2020 to 2025 </li></ul>I. Introduction Section 309 of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), as amended, encourages states and territories to develop program changes in one or more of nine coastal zone enhancement areas through a grant program. Rather than just changes to the manner that states and territories implement programs, the changes are made to federally approved CZM programs. These changes may include updates or revisions to state and territory enforceable policies and authorities. Such changes include the following activities that will enhance a state or territory’s ability to achieve one or more of the coastal zone enhancement objectives: 1. A change to coastal zone boundaries; 2. New or revised authorities, including statutes, regulations, enforceable policies, administrative decisions, executive orders, and memoranda of agreement/ understanding; 3. New or revised local coastal programs and implementing ordinances; 4. New or revised coastal land acquisition, management, and restoration programs; 5. New or revised Special Area Management Plans (SAMP) or plans for Areas of Particular Concern (APC) including enforceable policies and other necessary implementation mechanisms or criteria and procedures for designating and managing APCs; and, 6. New or revised guidelines, procedures and policy documents which are formally adopted by a state or territory and provide specific interpretations of enforceable CZM program policies to applicants, local government and other agencies that will result in meaningful improvements in coastal resource management. Every five years, states and territories are encouraged to conduct self-assessments of their coastal management programs to determine problems and enhancement opportunities within each of the nine enhancement areas—and to assess the effectiveness of existing management efforts to address identified problems. Each coastal management program identifies high-priority management issues, as well as important needs and information gaps the program must fill to address these issues. Following this self-assessment, NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management (OCM), works closely with each coastal management program to further identify the high-priority needs for improvement within one or more of the nine areas. The coastal management program then develops strategies, consulting with OCM, to improve its operations to address these management needs. The strategies provide a stepwise approach to reach a stated goal and lead to enhancement in the state’s or territory’s federally approved coastal management program. OCM reviews and approves the Section 309 “assessment and strategy” document for each state and territory and, after approval, provides funding under Section 309 to help them carry out those strategies. The following document provides a description of each enhancement area, the level of priority of the enhancement area, and any significant changes. A “phase 1” general overview is provided for each enhancement area and “phase 2” in depth-assessments are included for enhancement areas identified as “high priority” in this planning cycle. The table on the next page shows changes in priority levels in red text and highlights that three enhancement areas – coastal hazards, cumulative and secondary impacts, and special area management plans – were identified as high priorities for this report, which is updated as of 2020 to guide the next five-year planning cycle. 1<ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">Guam Coastal Management Program </li><li style="flex:1">Section 309 Assessment & Strategy: 2020 to 2025 </li></ul>Following initial surveys and the self-assessment, GCMP worked closely with the Office for Coastal Management (OCM), under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to further identify the high-priority needs for improvement within one or more of the nine areas. The GCMP then developed strategies, consulting with OCM, to improve its operations to address these management needs. The strategies outlined here aim to provide a realistic and achievable approach to reach a stated goal and lead to enhancement in the coastal management program. This document represents the Section 309 A&S Report for the Bureau of Statistics and Plans’ Guam Coastal Management Program. This 309 A&S was developed based on research on existing programs with input from a wide variety of stakeholders, both public and private, however, due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements, these meetings and communications were held using digital platforms. The Section 309 A&S process places emphasis on engagement from stakeholders and the public. As part of this process, stakeholder agencies and non-governmental organizations were invited to complete an online survey in which participants were asked to rank the nine enhancement areas and describe the priority areas of concern or need. The public was again asked to provide feedback on a final draft of this document during a 30-day comment period on November 12, 2020. The draft document was made available for review on BSP’s website, and the public was notified of the comment period via BSP’s social media accounts. Based upon initial stakeholder feedback and follow-up surveys combined with an internal assessment of each enhancement area’s resource characterization, GCMP’s management characterization, and current or projected threats to each enhancement area, BSP-GCMP identified three “High-Level” priorities from the list of nine areas: Coastal Hazards, Cumulative and Secondary Impacts, and Special Area Management Planning. Two strategies were developed to address cross-cutting needs to support implementation of BSP-GCMP management authorities through the codification of conservation planning elements and critical implementation support tools to support these high priority enhancement areas. Enhancement Category Wetlands 2015 Rating Medium Medium High 2020 Rating Medium High Coastal Hazards Public Access Marine Debris Medium Medium High Low High High Medium Low Cumulative & Secondary Impacts Special Area Management Plans Ocean Resources High Medium Medium Medium Energy & Government Facility Siting <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">Aquaculture </li><li style="flex:1">Low </li></ul>2<ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">Guam Coastal Management Program </li><li style="flex:1">Section 309 Assessment & Strategy: 2020 to 2025 </li></ul>II. Summary of Recent Section 309 Achievements 2011-2015 Section 309 Achievements Between 2016-2020, GCMP was able to finalize several program changes resulting from strategies resulting from the previous 2011-2015 Section 309 Assessment & Strategy Report. These updates and program changes are discussed below. Development of a Cumulative and Secondary Impact GIS Tool for Guam ‐ NA11NOS4190115 Enhancement Area: Cumulative & Secondary Impacts The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Screening Tool was developed in collaboration with the University of Guam’s Water and Environmental Research Institute (UoG-WERI). The report, GIS-Based Screening for Cumulative and Secondary Impacts from Development Projects in Northern Guam, (Muller et al.) was published in 2013. It details that the project resulted in the (1) development of the Northern Guam Geodatabase, (2) creation of an Affected Areas Tool, and (3) quantification of effects from different development scenarios for Northern Guam.1 The Northern Guam Geodatabase developed in this project contains 29 feature datasets and 5 raster datasets portraying geographic information about Northern Guam. The Affected Areas Tool is a GIS- based tool that utilizes inputs from the Northern Guam Geodatabase to screen the resources that may be affected by future developments. For determination of CSIs, a benefit of GIS datasets is that they can be used to inventory, evaluate, and predict future environmental changes. The outcome of the land development scenarios considered here indicates that for Northern Guam, undeveloped lands will be converted to urban/built-up areas with forested areas being affected the most. The datasets that were produced through this effort are available in th<a href="/goto?url=http://north.hydroguam.net/index.php" target="_blank">e </a><a href="/goto?url=http://north.hydroguam.net/index.php" target="_blank">North Guam Viewer</a><a href="/goto?url=http://north.hydroguam.net/index.php" target="_blank">.</a>2 The 2013 report indicated that Cumulative and Secondary Impacts (CSIs) of concern include stormwater runoff, loss of habitat, water quality degradation, and associated potential contamination problems. These CSIs can be induced by development-related activities such as increased development, loss of large vegetation tracts, and increased impermeable surfaces. The 2013 WERI report notes that the “Northern Guam Geodatabase coupled with the Affected Areas Tool can be used as a screening method to simultaneously assess potential CSIs from multiple projects” and recommends that the geodatabase should be updated if new layers or updates are made available. It also notes that further research will be needed to model the routes that contaminants originating from developments take to reach the aquifer or coastal areas, which may be especially critical to protecting the groundwater in Northern Guam. The Northern Guam Geodatabase and Assessment Tool 309-supported project has produced a comprehensive data set that can support screening for potential CSIs in Northern Guam. The Affected Areas Tool utilizes inputs from the Northern Guam Geodatabase to show how much of a resource would 1 L. Muller, J.D. Rouse, & S.hahram Khosrowpanah, P.E., GIS-Based Screening for Cumulative and Secondary Impacts from Development Projects in Northern Guam, 2013, University of Guam Water and Environmental Research Institute, Technical Report 146, available at <a href="/goto?url=https://guamhydrologicsurvey.uog.edu/Library/PDFs/WERI%20TR%20146-%20Muller%20et%20al%202013.pdf" target="_blank">https://guamhydrologicsurvey.uog.edu/Library/PDFs/WERI%20TR%20146-%20Muller%20et%20al%202013.pdf</a><a href="/goto?url=https://guamhydrologicsurvey.uog.edu/Library/PDFs/WERI%20TR%20146-%20Muller%20et%20al%202013.pdf" target="_blank">. </a>2 Digital Atlas of Northern Guam, UoG-WERI, available at <a href="/goto?url=http://north.hydroguam.net/index.php" target="_blank">http://north.hydroguam.net/index.php</a><a href="/goto?url=http://north.hydroguam.net/index.php" target="_blank">. </a>3<ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">Guam Coastal Management Program </li><li style="flex:1">Section 309 Assessment & Strategy: 2020 to 2025 </li></ul>be potentially affected by a proposed development. The Affected Areas Tool was adapted from a previously developed ESRI analysis tool that assesses impacts of roads on vegetation. To use the tool, users must have working knowledge of ArcGIS, a proprietary suite of GIS software products which includes mapping and analytics platform from ESRI. However, due to staff turnover, no trainings have been held on how to use the existing database, and much of the compiled geospatial information is now over a decade old. BSP-GCMP is currently working with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and the National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center to compile existing layers into the Coastal Resilience Evaluation and Siting Tool (CREST) which will support a more user-friendly interactive mapping and reporting tool, hosted online by NFWF, to further support these scoping efforts as well as inform next steps in policy development. Public Access for Natural and Cultural Resources ‐ NA12NOS4190167 Enhancement Area: Public Access The project focused on conducting and complete a survey to determine the public's attitudes about the state of public access for natural and cultural resources on Guam. A presentation on this assessment was given at the 2020 Assembly of Planners. The report has been finalized and is currently being used as the basis to inform the development of the Public Access Management Plan. The report reflects qualitative and quantitate investigations of attitudes and behaviors relevant to coastal access, provides a detailed inventory and analysis of policies, statutes, regulations, and programs affecting public access, and provides a series of recommendations designed to improve Guam’s coastal access program and increase public engagement regarding this effort. Next steps include completing the Public Access Management Plan and incorporating this data and the Public Access Report recommendations into the Seashore Reserve Master Plan update which is discussed further in the following 2015-2020 Section 309 Achievements section. Tsunami Study – NA13NOS4190132 Enhancement Area: Coastal Hazards The project focused on supporting incorporation of data from NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory’s 2010 Tsunami Hazard Assessment (THA) for Guam into updated plans and policy guidance. The 2010 THA reported results of tsunami hazard assessments for each of five coastal communities on the Island of Guam—Tumon Bay, Agana Bay, Pago Bay, Apra Harbor, and Inarajan Bay—using both moderate (Mw 8.5) and Great Earthquake (Mw ≥ 9.0) scenarios. Wave amplitudes as high as 7.0 m at Tumon Bay were predicted, and at Pago and Inarajan bays the leading wave was predicted to arrive within 20 min with amplitudes as high as 15 m and 9 m, respectively, following a Great or worst-case earthquake. This data was further considered and incorporated into subsequent 2014 and 2019 updates of Guam’s Hazard Mitigation Plan through Guam Homeland Security Office of Civil Defense (HS/CD).

Coastal Zone Management Act Section 309 Program Guidance

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