Explore resources and examples, including local ordinances, that can help local governments adapt to, mitigate, or prepare for impacts of flooding and sea-level rise.
49 results are shown below.
Filter by States AffectedSelect states to filter this list
All
Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Marianas Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Resource
January 23, 2018
The City of Norfolk, Virginia adopted a new zoning ordinance in 2018 to enhance flood resilience and direct new more intense development to higher ground. The ordinance establishes a Coastal Resilience Overlay (CRO) zone, where new development and redevelopment will have to comply with new flood resilience requirements, and an Upland Resilience Overlay (URO), designed to encourage new development in areas of the city with lower risk of flooding.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
November 22, 2017
From the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), this document offers guidance on permitting requirements for public or private living shorelines projects in the Marine and Coastal District Waters of New York (Lower Hudson River to the tip of Long Island). Intended for permitting staff, design professionals, and property owners, this guidance encourages living shorelines over other hardening approaches for flood and erosion control and promotes consistent permit determination for living shoreline projects.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
September 27, 2017
Rhode Island has approved legislation that requires all members of local planning boards and commissions to participate in a training program on the impacts of flooding and sea level rise to the state. One of the priorities is to help ensure that local decision makers can calculate the effects of sea level rise and flooding on development and land use in flood plains. The training is a free two-hour course required once every two years, for both coastal and inland municipalities - as flooding is expected on inland rivers and waterways as sea level rises as well.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
September 3, 2017
In 2017, New Hampshire passed a new law, New Hampshire Revised Statutes § 79-E:4-a, that enables municipalities to create a tax incentive program to encourage resiliency in coastal areas. Municipalities can establish “Coastal Resilience Incentive Zones” (CRIZ) in their jurisdictions to grant property owners tax relief for undertaking “resilience measures” for qualified properties or structures identified as impacted by storm surge, sea-level rise, or extreme precipitation projections.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
2016
This article discusses the value of integrating natural coastal hazard defense solutions - beaches, dunes, reefs and mangroves for example - to manage climate impacts such as sea level rise, flooding, or generally, wave attenuation. Natural infrastructure engineering guidelines that include performance evaluation are called for in order to begin to integrate these cost-effective methods into resilient coastal community planning.
Author or Affiliated User: Shannon Cunniff
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
September 28, 2016
This comprehensive report discusses the policy options available to the City of Coral Gables, Florida, as it prepares for sea level rise and other effects of climate change. It also explores potential legal issues likely to arise as climate change adaptation measures are implemented. It explores these challenges in light of Coral Gables’s (and all of South Florida’s) unique vulnerability to climate change, as a result of its low elevation above current sea level and its porous limestone base, which makes protecting areas of South Florida like Coral Gables with sea walls, dikes, or canals impractical.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
May 4, 2016
In May 2016, the City Council of Satellite Beach in Brevard County, Florida approved Ordinance 1113, amending the Infrastructure, Coastal Management and Conservation, Intergovernmental Coordination, and Capital Improvements sections of the town’s Comprehensive Plan to adopt Adaptation Action Areas and a shared planning horizon and sea-level curve for city projects.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
April 25, 2016
The City of Laurel, Maryland, adopted Article IV of their Unified Land Development Code on April 25, 2016. Article IV, Floodplain Management, outlines building and structure regulations in the floodplain, including elevating critical facilities to the 0.2-percent chance flood level and enhancing flood protection setback standards.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
May 2015
In 2015, the New Orleans City Council adopted a new Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO). Article 23 of the CZO addresses landscaping and stormwater management with the intended purpose of reducing the urban heat island effect, decreasing flooding and strains on the existing drainage system, improving water conservation, and protecting public health, safety, and welfare. Article 23 of the CZO does not directly mention climate change or climate adaptation, but does specify regulations that can improve the cities ability to manage stormwater in the face of increased precipitation and mitigate heat in the face of rising temperatures though green infrastructure.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
July 1, 2014
The Miami-Dade Sea Level Rise Task Force was created by the Miami-Dade County Commission in July 2013 to assess the potential impacts of sea level rise for future development planning, and was charged with providing a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of sea level rise and storm surge on the region over time.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
