• Coastal Resources

Coastal Sector Laws and Regulations

This tab includes laws, legislation, regulations, agency guidance, and executive orders relevant to the coastal sector.  

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167 results are shown below.

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New York Model Local Laws to Increase Resilience (Chapter 2: Wetland and Watercourse Protection Measures)

June 2019

In June 2019, the New York Department of State completed a set of model local laws to increase resilience as part of its required actions under the State’s Community Risk and Resiliency Act (CCRA). The model laws are meant to inform municipalities who want to adapt their own resiliency measures. Five categories of model laws are included in the model, which is divided into five corresponding chapters. The second chapter addresses wetlands and watercourse protection measures including buffers, overlay districts, and watercourse setbacks.

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New York Model Local Laws to Increase Resilience (Chapter 3: Coastal Shoreline Protection Measures)

June 2019

In June 2019, the New York Department of State completed a set of model local laws to increase resilience as part of its required actions under the State’s Community Risk and Resiliency Act (CCRA). The model laws are meant to inform municipalities who want to adapt their own resiliency measures. Five categories of model laws are included in the model, which is divided into five corresponding chapters. The third chapter addresses coastal shoreline protection measures, including coastal setbacks and erosion control districts.

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New York Model Local Laws to Increase Resilience (Chapter 5: Stormwater Control Measures)

June 2019

In June 2019, the New York Department of State published model local laws to increase resilience as part of its required actions under the State’s Community Risk and Resiliency Act (CCRA). The model laws are divided into chapters addressing land use and zoning, wetlands and watercourses, coastline protection, floodplain management, and stormwater control. The fifth chapter addresses stormwater control measures, including reduction of impervious surfaces and mitigation where reduction isn’t available, and includes model language local governments can adapt to that purpose.

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New York Model Local Laws to Increase Resilience

June 2019

In June 2019, the New York Department of State completed a set of model local resiliency laws as part of its required actions under the State’s Community Risk and Resiliency Act (CCRA). The model laws are meant to inform municipalities who want to adapt their own resiliency measures. Five categories of model laws are included in the model, which is divided into five corresponding chapters. The categories are 1) basic land use models including zoning practices; 2) model legal protections for watercourses and wetlands; 3) model protection measures for shorelines; 4) model floodplain management practices, and; 5) model stormwater management practices.

Resource Category: Law and Governance

 

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New York Model Local Laws to Increase Resilience (Chapter 4: Management of Floodplain Development)

June 2019

In June 2019, the New York Department of State published model local laws to increase resilience as part of its required actions under the State’s Community Risk and Resiliency Act (CCRA). The model laws are divided into chapters addressing land use and zoning, wetlands and watercourses, coastline protection, floodplain management, and stormwater control. The fourth chapter addresses floodplain development management, including overlay districts and critical facilities protection, and includes model language local governments can adapt to that purpose.

Resource Category: Law and Governance

 

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Maine Act to Help Municipalities Prepare for Sea Level Rise (LD 563)

May 29, 2019

Maine Governor Janet Mills signed into law LD 563, “An Act to Help Municipalities Prepare for Sea Level Rise” in May 2019. The law amends the State’s growth management and local land-use planning requirements (at Title 30-A, Chapter 187 of the Maine Code) to address the effects of sea-level rise. It allows coastal municipalities and “multimunicipal” regions including coastal municipalities to consider sea level rise projections and potential effects on buildings, transportation infrastructure, sewage treatment facilities, and other municipal or private facilities.

Resource Category: Law and Governance

 

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Virginia Beach Public Works Design Standards Manual - Sea Level Rise and Precipitation Adjustments for Stormwater Management Design

May 2019

In 2019, the City of Virginia Beach updated its Public Works Design Standards Manual (Manual) to account for climate change impacts in drainage system design requirements that help control stormwater runoff. The Manual provides minimum design standards for all City public works projects within City rights-of-way, easements, and City-owned properties (e. g. , roadway, drainage, and traffic signal design standards). Section 8 of the Manual addresses stormwater management, and unlike most of the rest of the Manual, its standards apply to all private projects as well as City construction projects relating to stormwater management.

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California Coastal Commission Environmental Justice Policy

March 8, 2019

Established in 1972, the California Coastal Commission has a mandate “to protect and enhance California’s coast and ocean for current and future generations" by regulating development with local government. In 2016, AB 2616 was enacted to amend the state’s Coastal Act, giving the Commission authority to specifically consider environmental justice when making coastal permit decisions. While providing the public and the Commission with guidance on how the agency will implement its authority under AB 2616 - the 2019 environmental justice policy is intended to integrate the principles of environmental justice, equality, and social equity into all aspects of the Commission’s program and operations.

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Mexico Beach, Florida - Floodplain Ordinance 712

February 5, 2019

Mexico Beach is on the Gulf of Mexico in Bay County, Florida and faces climate enhanced hurricanes, coastal storm surge, sea level rise and flooding impacts. In October 2018, Hurricane Michael, a Category 4 storm, made landfall in Mexico Beach demolishing 70% of the town’s homes. The coastal community has amended the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood zones maps to reflect storm surge flood levels and high risk floodplain areas as implicated by Hurricane Michael flooding.  An ordinance has been adopted in which new construction in Mexico Beach must be elevated at least a foot and a half higher than FEMA's base-level flood predictions in both the region’s 100-year and 500-year floodplains.

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Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance, Miami, Florida

December 13, 2018

In 2018, Miami passed a mandatory inclusionary zoning (IZ) ordinance that requires the inclusion of affordable housing in the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) district, a 30-block area north of downtown Miami. Miami currently ranks lowest in the  availability of affordable rental units among cities in the nation. Meanwhile, low-income communities in the city’s inland neighborhoods that are historically black and Latinx now face development pressures from wealthier residents seeking to relocate from the city’s low-lying coastal neighborhoods to the city’s inland neighborhoods.

Resource Category: Law and Governance

 

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