Lecture 23 Federal, State, and Regional Motivation for Coastal Zone Management and GIS
Learning objectives:
23.1 What (principal) federal agency addresses coastal issues based on what mandate?
23.2 What is the purpose of some of the national coastal programs around the US?
23.3 What are some of the activities in state coastal management programs?
23.4What is the significance of regional coastal management in the overall picture?
23.1 What (principal) federal agency addresses coastal issues based on what mandate?
GIS within an Institutional Setting
As an underpinning to a needs analysis, one should examine the reasons we collect information in the first place: what is the purpose? – situated in the 2nd to last outer ring of the ring of contexts diagram.
Mandates: e.g. Federal Law provides “rules” establishing specific federal (public) agencies. For example, the Coastal Zone Management Act directs the Federal Government and in particular NOAA with a mandate for addressing coastal information.
Custodians: agencies are appointed to become guardians of certain information over the long-term; maintenance is the key issue... (e.g. at state level in US through Geographic Information Councils). Custodianship is a mutual agreement among a collective of agencies. Custodians maintain “authoritative” data, that is, data that can usually be trusted because it is collected by a credible authority. WAGDA is an archive composed of authoritative data.
The Coastal Zone Management Framework described by Beatley, Brower and Schwab (2002) discusses policies, programs and concerns at four levels: Federal, State, Regional, and Local. However, we should note that these terms are not necessarily spatial scales in a natural-functional hierarchy, but terms that imply a governmental spatial hierarchy. The difference comes with understanding a) what is an ecosystem and how do ecosystems function (work) versus b) who might best maintain the functioning of an ecosystem or any social-ecological system for that matter? Beatley, Brower, and Schwab recognize a need for a high degree of coordination among organizations (institutions) in coastal zone management – the basis of their framework.
Federal Coastal Management
Coastal Zone Management Act (1972) – cornerstone of Federal Policy for managing coastal resources. CZMA directs NOAA to administer voluntary grant-in-aid program to states, helping states balance development and environmental concerns through land use planning along coastal areas. As such, CZMA is a federal-state collaborative effort.
- Section 302 and 303 lay a foundation for direction of policy.
- Section 305 specifies the way money is allocated.
- Section 306a specifies opportunity for matching grants; adds to administering program
- Section 306(d)2 lays out state coastal management program (CMP) elements for federal approval (let us consider how these tasks can be supported by GIS):
-a definition of boundaries of the coastal zone to which program applies
-a definition of areas of particular concern within the coastal zone
-a definition of permissible land and water uses within the coastal zone and the “identification of the means by which the state proposes to exert control” over them
-a description of the organizational structure for the implementation of the program
-a planning process to provide protection of and access to public beaches
-a planning process to lessen the impact of shore erosion
Section 307 provides incentive to all federal agencies to coordinate with states on land and/or water use and/or natural resource use to make sure activity is consistent with state management programs.
Section 309 – Coastal Zone Enhancement Program – coastal zone enhancement program objectives are to:
- protect, restore, enhance, or create coastal wetlands
- eliminate development in hazardous areas and anticipate sea level rise
- expand beach access opportunities
- reduce marine debris
- control cumulative and secondary impacts of development
- formulate and implement Special Area Management Plans
- plan for use of ocean resources
- formulate a process to facilitate siting of energy facilities
- adopt procedures to facilitate siting of aquaculture facilities
CZMA reauthorization amendment Section 6217 provides for coastal nonpoint source pollution control program, coordinate with local and state water quality authorities following NOAA and EPA guidelinesthat contain the following elements:
-identification of land uses that may degrade coastal waters
-identification of critical coastal area within which land use controls are required
-management measures that are necessary to achieve Clean Water Act (CWA) requisite water quality standards
-technical assistance to local governments and the public
-a public participation process
-administrative coordination between state agencies and between state and local agencies
-state coastal zone boundary modification “The Secretary of Commerce in consultation with EPA Administrator shall review the inland coastal zone boundary of each coastal state and evaluate whether the State’s coastal zone boundary extends inland to the extent necessary to control land and water uses that have a significant impact on coastal waters of the State and shall recommend appropriate modifications to the affected State.”
23.2What is the purpose of some of the national coastal programs around the US?
- NOAA manages the National Estuarine Research Reserve Systemestablished under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972
- 29NERRs (see map) as estuaries in 23 coastal states and/or territories are assessed and monitored for eutrophication, i.e., nutrientscausing algae blooms.
- EPA manages the National Estuary Program established under Clean Water Act of 1987
- 28 estuaries managed using EPA’s model for administering Chesapeake Bay Program
- NOAA GIS implementation and use takes the form of internal and external support.
- NOAA internal GIS support in the National Ocean Service SpecialProjects Office has moved many GIS applications into the specific programs across NOAA
- NOAA external GIS support to state, regional and local agencies is provided by the Office of Coastal Management
- NOAA is the lead partner in the Digital CoastPartnership
23.3 What are some of the activities in state coastal management programs?
U. S. Coastal Management Programs (CMP’s) in States
Of 36 states and US territories eligible, 35have approved CMPs; Alaska as of July 1, 2011 has chosen not to participate.
One key feature of CZMA is flexibility for states to craft CMP’s to meet their own political and cultural circumstances. In some states the CMP integrates into a broader state planning framework. This stems from the cultural perspective on how to manage community development and resources.
CMP activities commonly include the following (consider the use of space-time GIS):
-Shoreline management and retreat – some states have setback regulations and others do not
-Restrictions on shore-hardening structures, e.g. seawalls for erosion control
-Guide and manage reconstruction
-Restrictions on buildable lots
-Building codes and construction standards
-Coastal wetlands protection
-Sea level rise impacts (preliminary)
-Beach access and land acquisition
-Cumulative and secondary impacts – population/growth and land development impacts coastal and marine resources – major need for impact information
-Specialized area management plans (comprehensive plan providing natural resource protection and reasonable coastal-dependent economic growth”;
-Marine spatial planning guidelines for aquaculture, energy, and govt facility siting
-Areas of particular concern; special sensitive areas like habitats
-Marine debris clean-up, e.g., wood, glass, plastic etc.
-Marine ecosystem protection
Washington Coastal ZoneManagement Program
Washington became the first state to achieve a federally-approved state CZM Program in 1976. Washington’s CZM program is based primarily upon our Shoreline Management Act of 1971, as well as other state land use and resource management laws.
23.4 What is the significance of regional coastal management in the overall picture?
Regional Coastal Management
Coastal StatesOrganization – an association that supports “shared vision of the coastal states, commonwealths and territories for the protection, conservation, responsible use and sustainable economic development of the nation’s coastal and ocean resources”
“Managing complex areas such as the coastal zone does not lend itself to traditional planning and management mechanisms, which tend to segment concerns and deal with problems on an isolated, ad hoc basis. … Coastal zone is process-driven, integrated system of interacting components in which one action, whether initiated from within or external to the system, has ramifications far beyond the initial impact. Further compounding these difficulties is the fact that natural resources often transcend political boundaries and do not conform to our artificial and arbitrary political and administrative jurisdictions.” Beatley, Brower, Schwab 2002 p. 173.
One solution to address those concerns is to undertake limited management, not a very suitable solution. Another solution to address the above concerns is to manage at the regional level.Regions are geographic areas that share common issues of public policy, administration, resource management, pollution control, economic development, or social, political, or environmental concerns and for which the government body is constituted based on the geographic influence of the issues being addressed.
Healthy watershedsprotectionoverseen by the EPA operates most effectively at a regional scale. Drainage areas are of varying scales – catchments, sub-watersheds, watersheds, sub-basins, and basins. Watershed protection aims at targeted, cooperative and integrative action.
The main principles of a watershed approach are as follows (consider the use of GIS):
1) Target priority problems - Target watersheds should be those where pollution poses greatest risk to human health, ecological resources, desirable uses of water, or a combination of these.
2) Stakeholder involvement - All parties with a stake in the situation should participate in analyzing problems and creating solutions.
3) Integrated solution - Action taken should draw upon full range of methods and tools available, integrating them into a coordinated, multi-organization approach to problems. Scientific understanding and research should be included, but be open to incorporation of new information from local sources.
4) Measure success – Early in the process stakeholders should agree on the ecological and administrative indicators for measuring the progress being made. However, such a collection of indicators should be constituted from a sound conceptual model, for example as recommended by the Washington State Academy of Sciences in their Sound Indicators report.
A multi-scale framework of landscape condition outlined by the EPA encourages the use of GIS. Sixindexes are used to assess the health of watersheds at each scale to form an integrated assessment. Sub-indexes are integrated to characterize health.
Special Area Management Plan(SAMP) – “a comprehensive plan providing for natural resource protection and reasonable coastal-dependent economic growth containing a detailed and comprehensive statement of policies; standards and criteria to guide public and private uses of lands and waters; and mechanisms for timely implementation in specific geographic areas within the coastal zone” (Beatley, Brower, Schwab 2002 p. 181.
SAMP is used in various ways throughout country, but the approach is meant to accomplish the following goals (consider the use of GIS):
1)address environmental problems that are best solved through a multi-jurisdictional and integrated policy approach; environmental problems typically involve natural systems spanning multiple jurisdictions; particularly severe environmental problems ranging across large geographic areas,
2)integrated policy - coordinate existing policies to adequately and comprehensively address environmental problems, and
3)establish a balanced management framework to protect public or socially important resources while allowing for appropriate continued use of these resources; high resource values (economic, recreational, social, or biological) often create conflicting interests regarding preservation and/or development; natural, political and social systems within the area must be identified
Three examples of the many special management area activities are:
ChesapeakeBay Program
Chesapeake Bay Watershedmanagement maps
Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration Activity
Puget Sound PartnershipProgram
Puget Sound VitalSigns
Puget Sound Partnership Action Agenda
Everglades NationalPark in south Florida
South Florida Water Management District
GIS in the South Florida Water Management District