Coastal Management

Coastal Storms Tropical cyclones (hurricanes) and Nor’easters can devastate coastal areas Damage from coastal storms costs billions of dollars a year in damages to the coasts of the US The frequency of large storms in coastal areas makes them among the most risky places for human habitation, in spite of this the coastal counties in the USA are the fastest growing

Coastal Zone The coastal zone comprises just seventeen percent of the contiguous US’ land area, it is home to fifty-six percent of the country’s population. 3,600 people are added to the coastal zone daily, increasing population density in U.S. coastal areas from 187 people per square mile in 1960, to 273 in 1994, and to a projected 327 in 2015 (NOAA 1998).

Hard Stabilization

Longshore Drift of Sediment Human Interference with Sand Drift – Jetties – Groins – Breakwater – Sea walls

Beach Nourishment Beach nourishment is one engineering solution to coastal erosion It involves transfer of offshore sand or sand from quarries to the coast are a cost of millions of dollars Many tourist beaches in the USA are there because of beach nourishment

Beach Nourishment NJDEP, USACOE, MMS Dredge and pump slurry For every foot of beach one cubic yard is needed If the state needs to extend a 1000 foot long beach 200 feet it will need 200,000 cubic yards of sand or 20,000 truckloads

Between 1995 and 2006, the Minerals Management Service provided over 23 million cubic yards of OCS sand for 17 coastal projects. These projects restored over 90 miles of the Nation’s coastline mainly in Florida, Maryland and Virginia

Central Boca Raton Beach Renourishment Project

California Beach Restoration Study January 2002 Continue Investing in Beaches: –Past beach nourishment experience in California has shown that continued funding for sand is justified by the economic benefits from tourism and beach recreation associated with wide sandy beaches (including $4.6 billion in tax revenue for the State). –Continue funding the Public Beach Restoration Program and invest in opportunistic beach replenishment. Remove or Bypass Dams: –Substantial increases in sand volume to local sediment budgets, resulting in wider beaches, could be realized by removing those dams that are nolonger serving any useful function, and bypassing sediment around those that are functional but impound significant volumes of sand. Promote Opportunistic Sand Nourishment: –the cost and complexity of regulatory compliance often precludes the use of opportunistic material from sources such as debris basins and wetlands.

Long Beach Island dune construction plan. The $71 million plan — 65 percent of it financed by federal funds and 35 percent paid for by the state — calls for dune construction that would put 11 million cubic yards of new sand on the shore. Earth movers would cast it all to create and firm up 125- foot-deep beaches, as well as dunes that are at least 22 feet above the mean high tide point and 30 feet wide. Every five years, engineers would add more sand, if necessary, to maintain the new shoreline.

The 1994 activation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, reauthorization of the US Coastal Zone Management Act in 1996, and designation of 1998 as the International Year of the Ocean. The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 defines the coastal zone as a transition from land to the US territorial sea, consisting mainly of the swash zone, bays, dunes, estuaries, intra-coastal developments and waterways, coastal wetlands, marshes, and the like. The International Year of the Ocean (1998), sponsored by the United Nations, called attention to an increasing need for investigations into deep ocean, island, and coastal management, all in the context of Earth System Science. Specifically, Chapter 17 of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development’s Agenda 21 report calls for the assessment and management of fisheries, a de facto guarantee of biodiversity protection

CZMA 1972 The federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) of 1972 was established to encourage coastal states to manage development within the states’ designated coastal areas to reduce conflicts between coastal development and protection of resources within the coastal zone.

NJDEP NJ Department of Environmental Protection regulates coastal zone activities under N.J.A.C. Section 7:7E, Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Policies. Section 7:7E sets forth substantive rules of the NJDEP regarding the use and Regulation Program in reviewing permit applications under the Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA), N.J.S.A. 13:9A-1 et seq (as amended to July 19, 1993), Wetlands Act of 1970, N.J.S.A. 13:9A-1 et seq, Waterfront Development Law, N.J.S.A. 12:5-3, Water Quality Certification (401 of the Federal Clean Water Act), and Federal Consistency Determinations (307 of the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act).

NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT POLICIES Policy 7:7E-3.5: Finfish Migratory Pathways –Development that obstructs fish passageways or lowers water quality to an extent that interferes with fish movement or violates standards is prohibited in waterways that serve as migratory pathways unless mitigation is provided. Policy 7:7E-3.7: Navigation channels –The navigability of existing navigation channels must not be impacted by dredging or development, or by siltation as a result of said dredging or development. Policy 7:7E-3.11: Ports –Any use that will preempt or interfere with port uses (i.e., marine terminal) is prohibited; docks and piers for cargo movement are encouraged. Policy 7:7E-3.12: Submerged Infrastructure Routes –A “submerged infrastructure route” is the corridor in which a pipe or cable runs on or below a submerged land surface. Any activity that will increase the likelihood of damage to a submerged pipe or cable, or interfere with maintenance operations, is prohibited.

NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT POLICIES Policy 7:7E-3.13: Shipwrecks and artificial reefs –Acceptable uses of these submerged habitats include recreational and commercial/finfishing and shellfishing, and scuba diving. In addition, construction of new or expanded artificial reefs by the deposition of weighted nontoxic material is conditionally acceptable Policy 7:7E-3.15: Intertidal and subtidal shallows –Development, filling, and new dredging are generally discouraged in intertidal and subtidal shallows, but may be permitted in accordance with the Use Policy for the applicable water body type (in this case, large rivers). Policy 7:7E-3.25: Flood hazard areas –In an undeveloped portion of a flood hazard area that is within 100 feet of a navigable water body, development is prohibited unless the development is for water dependent use. Policy 7:7E-3.27: Wetlands –Development in wetlands defined under the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act of 1987 is prohibited unless the development is found to be acceptable under the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act Rules (N.J.A.C. 7:7A).

NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT POLICIES Policy 7:7E-3.34: Historic and Archaeological Resources –Development that detracts from, encroaches upon, damages, or destroys the value of historic and archaeological resources is discouraged, while adaptive reuse is encouraged. Mitigation measures must take place if the proposed development will irreversibly and/or adversely affect historic and archaeological resources. Policy 7:7E-3.38: Endangered or threatened wildlife or vegetation species habitats –Development in these areas or their buffers is prohibited unless it can be demonstrated that endangered or threatened wildlife or vegetation species habitat would not directly or through secondary impacts on the relevant site or in the surrounding area be adversely affected. Policy 7:7E-3.39: Critical wildlife habitats –Development that would directly or through secondary impacts on the relevant site or in the surrounding region adversely affect critical wildlife habitats is discouraged, Policy 7:7E-3.41: Special hazard areas –Coastal development, especially residential and labor-intensive economic development, within special hazard areas is discouraged. All development within special hazard areas must include appropriate mitigating measures to protect the public health and safety. NJDEP’s Division of Hazardous Waste Management handles approvals for hazardous substance investigations or clean-up activities at contaminated sites.

NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT POLICIES Policy 7:7E-3.43: Special urban areas –Development that will help to restore the economic and social viability of special urban areas is encouraged. –Development that would adversely affect the economic well being of these areas is discouraged when an alternative which is more beneficial to the special urban areas is feasible. Revitalization of the Greenville Yard float bridges would encourage and restore the economic viability of the special urban areas (Jersey City and Bayonne) that surround the Greenville Yard. Therefore, these alternatives would be consistent with this policy.

New Jersey Beaches More than any state in the nation, New Jersey has taken a stand against the invading tides. It has the most engineered beaches in the country Today, buffering shore towns from the endless assault of the Atlantic Ocean are 483 sand-trapping groins, 23 miles of seawalls and bulkheads, and an assortment of wave-breakers, sandbags, Geotubes, Beachsaver Reefs and other devices. It has one of the nation's highest annual shore-protection budgets, $25 million, administered by the state's land- use agency, the Department of Environmental Protection. In the last 50 years, taxpayers have paid $600 million to protect coastal real estate. Taxpayers have committed $2 billion to pump sand on New Jersey beaches for the next 50 years. That cost could rise to $5 billion if other proposed beachfill projects come to fruition

New Jersey Beaches Avalon and Stone Harbor have been anchored in place by $3 billion worth of real estate, and both towns are waiting for a 50-year federal beachfill project such as the one in Ocean City Ocean City, it is just the latest in a long history of fills. According state records and the Army Corps of Engineers, more than 15 million cubic yards of sand have been dumped or pumped on the city's five miles of beaches since the 1950s. T hat represents close to one-third of all the sand ever placed on the state's beaches.

Orrin Pilkey's classic book The Corps and the Shore, written with Katharine Dixon, details how jetties, seawalls, groins and other desperate maneuvers offer only temporary respite from the natural effects of erosion and shifting coastline--and ultimately make things worse. The same thing is true of imported sand. New Jersey beaches, the authors write, can expect only a one- to three-year lifespan, and there is damage to water clarity and bottom-dwellers.

Answers? There are no easy answers on the Jersey shore. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, property that was worth $8.7 billion in 1962 is now worth $34.3 billion when adjusted for inflation. In 1945, George Lippincott bought a house with 1.2 acres in coastal Avalon for $500, raising the money by selling a single rare stamp. This year, Lippincott's descendants put the property on the market for $3.5 million. The coast is now fully developed, with the result that a "100-year storm" would be far more devastating today than it would have been 50 years ago. Taxpayers will foot much of the bill for any rebuilding, since flood insurance is federally guaranteed