State of the Beach/State Reports/GA/Erosion Response

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Introduction

Erosion response is a measure of how well a state's policies and procedures limit the extent of shoreline armoring, unsafe coastal development, and costly beach nourishment projects. Evaluation of this indicator brings attention to the states that are taking proactive roles in natural beach preservation and natural hazard avoidance. Through the formulation (if not already in place), implementation, and strict adherence of the specific criteria within the indicator, states can overcome two fundamental obstacles to alternative erosion response practices outlined by the Oceans Studies Board (2007):

  1. A lack of knowledge and experience among decision-makers regarding alternative options for shoreline erosion response, the relative level of erosion mitigation afforded by the alternative approaches and their expected life time, and the nature of the associated impacts and benefits.
  2. The current legal and regulatory framework itself, which discriminates against innovative solutions because of the complex and lengthy permitting process that almost always considers these options on a case-by-case basis.


For example, are statewide oceanfront construction setbacks used to site new development and are these based on the latest erosion rates? When existing development is damaged during a storm does a state prohibit reconstruction or provide incentives for relocation? Before permitting shoreline stabilization does a state require: that there is demonstrated need via geo-technical reports with content standards; that alternatives to armoring including managed retreat/relocation are fully explored; and that potential adverse impacts and cumulative effects are taken into account? If a state can answer 'yes' to most of these questions then its rank is high and if the answers are mostly 'no' then its rank is low.

Also see the “Policies” discussion in the Shoreline Structures section for more information on Georgia’s erosion response.

Possible quantitative measures for this indicator include the number of new structures located within setback areas, number of damaged structures reconstructed in identified erosion zones, number of instances where alternatives to "hard" shore protection were employed, the number of shoreline structures permitted under "emergency" provisions, and the number of permits for shoreline structures reviewed, approved or denied. We have found that such information is rarely available.

Policies and Guidance

The Georgia Erosion and Sedimentation Act O.C.G.A. 12-7-1 requires that each county or municipality adopt a comprehensive ordinance establishing procedures governing land-disturbing activities based on the minimum requirements established by the Act. The Erosion and Sedimentation Act is administered by the Environmental Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and by local governments. Permits are required for specified "land-disturbing activities," including the construction or modification of manufacturing facilities, construction activities, certain activities associated with transportation facilities, activities on marsh hammocks, etc. With certain constraints, permitting authority can be delegated to local governments.

One provision of the Erosion and Sedimentation Act requires that land-disturbing activities shall not be conducted within 25 feet of the banks of any State waters unless a variance is granted (O.C.G.A. 12-7-6-(15)). Construction of single family residences under contract with the owner are exempt from the permit requirement but are still required to meet the standards of the Act (O.C.G.A. 12-7-17-(4)). Large development projects, both residential and commercial, must obtain a permit and meet the requirements of the Act. According to the Georgia Coastal Management Act, any permits or variances issued under the Erosion and Sedimentation Act must be consistent with the Georgia Coastal Management Program. Permits within the jurisdiction of the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act and the Shore Protection Act can include requirements that certain minimum water quality standards be met as a condition of the permit.

In February 2007 the Board of Natural Resources adopted amendments to the Coastal Marshlands Protection Rules to impose marshlands buffer, stormwater management, and impervious cover standards to protect this vital area of the State from non-point source pollution. The rule took effect in late March 2007 and established regulations that apply to the upland component of a project requiring a Coastal Marshlands Protection Act permit. The rules apply primarily to commercial, community and public projects such as marinas, community docks, fishing piers, boat ramps, and bridges that require a Coastal Marshlands Protection Act permit. The rules do not apply to private residential docks not requiring a Coastal Marshlands Protection Act permit, or marshfront property that does not have a project requiring a Coastal Marshlands Protection Act permit. The rule establishes a 50-foot marshlands buffer applicable to the upland component of the project, defines how to measure that buffer, and requires that the buffer remain in an undisturbed, naturally vegetated condition. Exceptions are provided for temporary construction and maintenance, permanent structures essential for the function or permanent access to the marsh component of the project, landscaping to enhance stormwater management, and pedestrian access for passive recreation.
More info.

It is a goal of the Coastal Management Program to “Develop and institute a comprehensive erosion policy that identifies critical erosion areas, evaluates the long-term costs and benefits of erosion control techniques, seeks to minimize the effects on natural systems (both biological and physical), and avoids damage to life and property.”

It is an objective of the Coastal Management Program to “Provide a coastal zone in which the integrity and functioning of the sand-sharing system is maintained.”

EPA has published a summary document Governments Plan for Development of Land Vulnerable to Rising Sea Level: Georgia (2009).

Coastal Barrier Resources Act

The federal Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA), passed in 1982, was designed to "minimize the loss of human life, wasteful expenditure of federal revenues, and the damage to fish, wildlife and other natural resources" by denying federal support for everything from sewer construction to flood insurance in undeveloped or little-developed coastal areas such as barrier islands. CBRA does not restrict development in these areas, but it indirectly discourages development by denying the use of federal funds for development projects or redevelopment after storm or flood damage. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administers this program, which identified 1.3 million acres of coastal land to be covered by the act. Unfortunately, pressure by property owners and developers in these areas has lead Congress to pass dozens of exemption bills which exclude certain areas from CBRA, thus thwarting the intent of the Act.

The Coastal Barrier Improvement Act (CBIA) was enacted on November 16, 1990. The CBIA resulted in reauthorization of the CBRA of 1982. The CBRA establishes the Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS) to protect areas such as undeveloped coastal barrier islands. There is a discussion of CBRA on NOAA's web site that concludes:

Although the removal of federal funding assistance has discouraged development in some coastal barrier islands, development has continued in other areas despite designation as a unit of the CBRS. CBIA is not intended to prevent or regulate development in high-risk areas; rather the intent is to direct that federal dollars not be spent for development in these areas. Activities conducted in areas adjacent to CBRS units may adversely impact these sensitive areas; these activities are not regulated under CBIA. In addition, CBIA does not restrict the use of private, local, or state funding within CBRS units. Some coastal states have initiated legislation that limits state funding of certain projects.
http://www3.csc.noaa.gov/beachnourishment/html/human/law/cbia1990.htm


A report released in March 2007 reviews the extent to which (1) development has occurred in CBRS units since their inclusion in the system and (2) federal financial assistance and permits have been provided to entities in CBRS units. GAO electronically mapped address data for structures within 91 randomly selected CBRS units and collected information on federal financial assistance and permits for eight federal agencies. GAO found multiple federal agencies have provided some financial assistance to property owners in CBRS units that is expressly prohibited by CBRA; some assistance allowed under CBRA; and hundreds of permits for federally regulated development activities within the unit. GAO recommended, among other things, the four agencies that provided prohibited loan guarantees or insurance policies to CBRS units first verify and then cancel those that are in violation of CBRA.

FEMA has now developed a fact sheet on CBRA. The fact sheet outlines the responsibilities and restrictions that various programs within FEMA have under CBRA.

Climate Change Adaptation

Introduction

Georgia’s coastline is buffered by a network of 15 barrier islands, only four of which are developed. Although comprised of a mere 88 miles of open-ocean beaches, the extensive salt marshes lining the mainland coast create 2,300 miles of tidally influenced shoreline. These broad tidal flats are especially susceptible to sea-level rise, with nearly 1,100 square miles of Georgia coastline located below 3.5 meters in elevation. While relatively rural, the Georgia coast is home to the historic City of Savannah, and has recently been cited as the second fastest growing region of the state, behind Atlanta.

Despite the serious threat of sea-level rise to the Georgia coast, the State has done little to address either climate change mitigation or adaptation. Although recent years have seen the passage of some climate change legislation, these laws are neither comprehensive nor binding. Much of what does exist is largely decentralized, making it difficult to enforce statewide policies. In order to protect its critical coastal habitats and maintain a thriving coastal economy, Georgia would greatly benefit from the creation of a centralized climate action working group (for a good example see Alaska). Adaptation efforts by the Georgia Coastal Program have also only just begun. Although early in the planning stages, Georgia should take the opportunity now to learn from successful climate change adaptation measures already employed by other states. While some coastal development restrictions do exist, the State currently has no statewide setback, policy of managed retreat, or other comprehensive adaptation strategies. Georgia can also improve the extent of its education and outreach material, and update it to include straightforward information about climate change.

Climate Change

While Georgia has made significant strides in terms of its climate change policy and legislation in recent years, initiatives at both the state and local level have yet to be classified as high priority actions. Furthermore, these actions are largely decentralized, occurring with little coordination between agencies and levels of government. While climate change mitigation strategies exist, it is difficult to tell the State’s exact position on the topic. For example, unlike Alaska and California, the Georgia State Government does not maintain a specific climate change website. Instead, alternative and renewable energy strategies are promoted through a variety of agency websites, with none specifically acknowledging climate change. This piecemeal approach, if not remedied soon, will continue to stall Georgia’s current progress. While in recent years Georgia has implemented a few specific mitigation measures, these fall painfully short of the overarching measures necessary to truly confront climate change.

On March 1, 2006, the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) launched a process to develop Georgia’s first state energy strategy. Published December 14, 2006 by the Governor’s Energy Policy Council, the State Energy Strategy for Georgia details policy objectives and implementation strategies that address many of Georgia’s current and future energy concerns. While not intended as an adaptation document, the Strategy does acknowledge that “climate change could affect the economy through rising shoreline levels and resulting damage to coastal development”. One of the objectives will be to prepare for potential federal climate change policies by establishing current State baseline GHG emissions and protocols allowing organization to account for their reductions. It should be noted that the Strategy has yet to be recognized by the Pew Center for Global Climate Change as a formal Climate Action Plan. Georgia is also one of the only coastal states without a State Adaptation Plan.

An Executive Order issued by Governor Perdue created the State Facilities Energy Council that is charged with setting procurement requirements for state agencies and departments for the purchase of energy. As a member of the Climate Registry, Georgia is currently working on steps to update its greenhouse gas inventory. Currently eight Georgia Mayors have also signed the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

Attended by nearly 300 delegates, the one-day public Georgia Climate Change Summit 2008 facilitated statewide dialogue on the challenges of climate change, its impacts on Georgia, and opportunities for success both now and in the future. Four different panels covered topic including: Georgia’s future climate projections, Impacts and Adaptation, Economic Risks and Opportunities, and Policy. Links to featured presentations relating to climate change and adaptation are listed below:


The Summit also highlighted how state and local governments, businesses and industries, and other leaders from the public and private sector are already reacting to the challenges and opportunities associated with climate change. See this presentation by the Conserve Georgia Campaign for more information on these programs. An additional resource on GHG mitigation measures is the Overview of GHG Inventory data, Status of Climate Change Policies, Recent Developments, and Policy Considerations for Georgia.

In April 2008 Governor Perdue launched the Governor’s Energy Challenge, committing Georgia’s state government to energy usage reduction by 15% by 2020 over the 2007 energy levels. The Governor urged citizens, businesses, organizations, and local governments to help meet the state’s 15% reduction goal. The press release noted that leading by example, the state of Georgia will “adopt, implement, and promote energy efficiency practices…using…biofuels and bioenergy”. Launch of the Center of Innovation for Energy, the sixth addition to Georgia’s Centers of Innovation (COI) program, was also announced in 2008. The COI for Energy will focus on recruiting bioenergy companies to Georgia and providing direct assistance to existing and startup businesses in the state.

Chatham County, one of six coastal counties, has also recently embarked on its own climate change initiative. Recognizing its vulnerability to climate change impacts such as sea-level rise, the County has positioned itself as a state leader in addressing climate change issues at a local level. In October 2007, the Board of Commissioners of Chatham County passed a resolution calling for Chatham County to become the “Greenest County in Georgia." The resolution requested the Chatham Environmental Forum (CEF) to develop a county-wide plan for achieving this goal. The CEF maintains a website acknowledging climate change and its impacts, and additionally summarizes its strategic plan. In 2009 the County published A Road Map for Chatham County , which set forth a preliminary, yet proactive, climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy. Although the report included information on climate change impacts and response, discussions concerning coastal hazards and weather were designated for future consideration.

Adaptation

General Reference Documents

A good general reference site for coastal hazards is a Coastal Hazards website maintained by Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC. This site has a substantial amount of coastal hazards information, including maps, photos, and an extensive reference list.

A recent (2007) informative publication is Ten Principles for Coastal Development by the Urban Land Institute.

The Coastal States Organization (CSO) has published two reports relating to climate change adaptation. The first is Coastal Community Resilience: An Evaluation of Resilience as a Potential Performance Measure of the Coastal Zone Management Act (July 2008)(PDF, 265 KB). Developed by CSO staff and CSO’s Coastal Resilience Steering Committee, the document demonstrates the value of resilience to coastal management and offers concrete recommendations for enhancing resilience at the state and local level. For more information on coastal community resilience, contact Kim Collini. The second document is The Role of Coastal Zone Management Programs in Adaptation to Climate Change (September 2008)(PDF, 732KB). The report includes detailed results of a 2008 adaptation survey designed to obtain up to date information on the status of adaptation planning, priority information needs, and the anticipated resource needs of the coastal states, commonwealths, and territories.

In April 2009, the Heinz Center and Ceres announced the release of their Resilient Coasts Blueprint, to outline steps to reduce risks and losses in the face of growing threats. The Heinz Center and Ceres produced the blueprint with a coalition of leading insurers, public officials, risk experts, builders, and conservation groups. The blueprint is endorsed by many groups, including The Travelers Institute, The Nature Conservancy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Wharton School, and the Mayor of Charleston, South Carolina. The blueprint includes policy changes and common sense actions that could reduce economic losses from future storms and rising sea levels by as much as half along U.S. coastlines. The blueprint outlines specific recommendations, including: enabling planning for climate impacts by providing the necessary science and decision-making tools; requiring risk-based land use planning; designing adaptable infrastructure and building code standards to meet future risk; strengthening ecosystems as part of a risk mitigation strategy; developing flexible adaptation plans; maintaining a viable private property and casualty insurance market; and integrating climate change impacts into due diligence for investment and lending. The coalition urges the Obama administration, Congress, local leaders and the private sector to see that blueprint actions are implemented through regulation, investment, education, and other means.

In January 2010 the National Association of Counties released Building Resilient Coastal Communities: Counties and the Digital Coast which highlights many of the Digital Coast resources that counties use to address coastal flooding, habitat conservation and land use. More resources, tools and data are available through the NOAA Coastal Services Center Digital Coast website.

Finally, EPA has a website devoted to preparing for rising sea level and other consequences of changing climate. The premise of the Sea Level Rise Adaptation Web site is that society should take measures to make our coastal development and ecosystems less vulnerable to a rise in sea level. The papers on this site demonstrate that numerous low-cost measures, if implemented, would make the United States less vulnerable to rising sea level. This site includes (or links to) the material available on the agency’s Coastal Zones and Sea Level Rise website and key reports from other government agencies.

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