1998 Year of the Ocean Impacts of Global Climate Change 



Any plan for adapting to sea-level rise must consider federal, state, and local legislation. 

 Under the common law of most states, tidal waters up to mean high water are owned by the 

 public. As sea level rises, the boundaries of land ownership generally migrate inland, under state 

 law. State laws vary considerably both on whether property owners must allow the shore to 

 retreat or are allowed to erect protective measures. At one extreme, Texas and Maine prohibit 

 structures that protect property at the expense of narrowing the beach; at the other extreme, 

 Maryland's Tidal Wetlands Act guarantees the right to erect structures to hold back the sea. 



Responses to sea level rise also depend on the type and density of development near the 

 shore. In most states, local master plans and zoning laws govern land use, although state coastal 

 zone management laws also play a role. Maryland's Critical Areas Act and New Jersey's Coastal 

 Area Facilities Review Act severely restrict the density of development in portions of their 

 coastal zones. Several states have setback laws requiring new structures to be a minimum 

 distance from the shore. Although water pollution and existing erosion hazards were the primary 

 impetus for these laws, they also provide a framework for a response to sea-level rise. Setbacks 

 are consistent with a presumption that shores will retreat naturally. The Maryland and New 

 Jersey statutes are consistent with a presumption that densely developed areas will be protected, 

 while shorelines in undeveloped areas remain in their natural states. 



State laws on access to the shore also influence a states ability to address rising sea level. 

 Along ocean shores with ample public access, such as New Jersey and Florida, public support for 

 beach re-nourishment and shoreline planning to maintain beaches tends to be great. Along shores 

 with little public access, especially bay shores, the constituency for preserving natural shorelines 

 tends to be less significant. 



Several federal statutes address coastal problems related to rising sea level. Section 10 of 

 The Rivers and Harbors Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act have created a federal 

 program of wetland protection. Strictly speaking, federal jurisdiction only extends up to the 

 upper boundary of the wetlands. Nevertheless, EPA and the Corps of Engineers have the 

 discretion to consider sea level rise and other environmental issues in the administration of 

 wetland mitigation programs in which, for example, a landowner is permitted to eliminate a strip 

 of wetlands in return for protecting or creating wetlands elsewhere. The Federal Flood Insurance 

 Act provides a comprehensive framework by which coastal communities attempt to limit the 

 vulnerability of property to floods. Although the guidelines under which the program operates do 

 not explicitly consider sea-level rise, they influence the vulnerability of coastal development to 

 rising sea level. As with the wetland legislation, the executive branch has the administrative 

 discretion to modify existing guidelines to prepare for rising sea level should it decide to do so. 



Perhaps the most important federal statute for addressing sea-level rise is the Coastal 

 Zone Management Act (as amended by Public Law 104-150). The Act provides a comprehensive 

 framework within which all coastal problems can be addressed. In reauthorizing the Act in 1 990, 

 Congress recognized the importance of this potentially new threat to the nation's shoreline 

 environments and encouraged coastal states and territories to begin to address rising sea level as 

 noted in the following sections: 



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