OPPORTUNITIES FOR STATE AND REGIONAL ACTION TO ENHANCE RESILIENCE

OPPORTUNITIES FOR STATE AND REGIONAL ACTION TO

ENHANCE RESILIENCE

Mark N. MaurielloDirector of Environmental Affairs and Planning

Edgewood Properties

FACTSRELATIVE SEA LEVEL IS RISING (MORE

THAN ONE FOOT OVER THE PAST CENTURY)

SEDIMENT SUPPLIES ARE DIMINISHINGDEVELOPMENT AND IMPERVIOUS COVER

ARE INCREASINGFLOOD HAZARD AREAS ARE EXPANDINGFLOOD HEIGHTS ARE INCREASINGEXTREME WEATHER EVENTS ARE

OCCURRING MORE FREQUENTLY

MORE FACTSHIGH DENSITY OF DEVELOPMENT PUTS

MANY PEOPLE AND PROPERTIES AT RISKTENDENCY TO UNDERESTIMATE HAZARDS

AND VULNERABILITY…AND REGULATE ACCORDINGLY

MINIMUM REGULATORY STANDARDS ARE INSUFFICIENTLY PROTECTIVE

LACK OF COORDINATED PLANNING RESULTS IN MISSED OPPORTUNITIES (NOAA, FEMA, ACOE, NJDEP, NJDCA, NJDOT)

WARMING TREND (IPCC, 2007)

ESTIMATES OF RELATIVE SEA LEVEL RISE ALONG THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES

(NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL, 1987)

NEGATIVE SEDIMENT BUDGETS

SEA ISLE CITY MONMOUTH BEACH

HOLGATE OVERWASHBARRIER ISLAND MIGRATION?

MINIMUM REGULATORY STANDARDSTOMS RIVER TOWNSHIP BRICK TOWNSHIP

MINIMUM REGULATORY STANDARDSSEA BRIGHT

DRIFTWOOD CABANA CLUB

SINGLE FAMILY HOME

BAYSIDE FLOODING/SURGESEASIDE PARK

URBAN AREA CHALLENGESHOBOKEN

DEBRIS MANAGEMENT6.2 MILLION CUBIC YARDS

LONG BRANCH SEASIDE HEIGHTS

LESSONS LEARNED?Belmar to Spend $20 Million Rebuilding Wrecked Boardwalk

(Source: Bergen Record, 12/4/12)

BELMAR – One of New Jersey’s most popular beach towns is moving swiftly to rebuild its boardwalk that was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. Belmar is scheduled to vote Monday night on a $20 million spending plan to pay for a new boardwalk, as well as some of the cost of cleaning up the ruins of the old one.Mayor Doherty said the Federal Emergency Management Agency should pay for at least 75 percent of the cost of boardwalk repairs, and said New Jersey’s Congressional delegation is working to have the agency approve a 90 percent reimbursement rate. To help pay for the Borough’s share of the cost, Belmar will help pay for the work by increasing daily beach badge fees from $7 to $8, and seasonal fees from $50 to $55.The Monmouth County community is also considering building a sea wall to help protect against future storms.

BEYOND STAFFORD ACT ASSISTANCE:FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS TO NFIP

Katrina and other 2005 hurricanes left $18.75 billion in debt to the U.S. Treasury

Nationally: 5.53 million policies in force with an insured exposure of $1.27 trillion

NJ Policies in force: 235,654NJ Insurance in force: $54,386,729,100NJ Losses (1/78 - 9/12): 111,963NJ Payments (1/78 - 9/12): $1,617,544,537

LengthOf Period

10 – YearEvent

25 – YearEvent

50 – YearEvent

100 – YearEvent

500 – YearEvent

1 Year 10% 4% 2% 1% 0.2%

10 Years 65% 34% 18% 10% 2%

20 Years 88% 56% 33% 18% 5%

25 Years 93% 64% 40% 22% 5%

30 Years 96% 71% 45% 26% 6%

50 Years 99+% 87% 64% 39% 10%

70 Years 99.94+% 94% 76% 50% 13%

100 Years 99.99+% 98% 87% 63% 18%

Frequency – Recurrence IntervalNatural Hazard Probabilities During Periods of Various Lengths

(FEMA, 2001)(The percentages shown represent the probabilities of one or more occurrences of an event of a given magnitude or larger within the specified period. As the length of the period increases, so does the probability that floods of a given magnitude or greater will occur.)

WHAT IS OUR GOAL? DISASTER RESILIENCE!

The capacity of a community that is exposed to hazards to adapt, by resisting or changing, in order to reach and maintain an acceptable level of functioning and structure. Resilience is determined by the degree to which the community is capable of organizing itself to increase its capacity for learning from past disasters.

Disaster resilience means that communities can withstand the impacts of floods and storms and readily recover, which in turn, contributes to long-term sustainability of communities for the enjoyment of all, both now and for future generations.

(Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction, 2005)

DISASTER RESILIENCE THROUGH HAZARD MITIGATION

COMPREHENSIVE PLANNINGACQUISITION/RELOCATIONHIGHER STANDARDSREGULATIONSLAND USE MANAGEMENTNATURAL RESOURCE RESTORATIONFLOODPROOFING AND RETROFITTINGLEGISLATION

COMPREHENSIVE MULTI-HAZARDS PLANNING

IDENTIFY VULNERABILITY AND RANGE OF MITIGATION OPTIONS

PRE-STORM PLANNING FOR POST-STORM MITIGATION AND RESPONSE ACTIONS

ALIGN AGENCY PLANNING, PROGRAMS, PRIORITIES AND FUNDING TO MAXIMIZE BENEFITS

PROMOTE LONG-TERM COST-BENEFICIAL ACTIONSPLAN AND IMPLEMENT REGIONAL SEDIMENT

MANAGEMENT ACTIONSEMPLOY A BROAD RANGE OF SOLUTIONSCOMMUNITY RATING SYSTEM (CRS)

ACQUISITION/RELOCATIONTHE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE LONG-TERM

MITIGATION OPTIONREPRESENTS A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO

PERSISTENT PROBLEMSBREAKS THE CYCLE OF REPETITIVE DAMAGESFACILITATES RESTORATION AND

ENHANCEMENT OF PROTECTIVE NATURAL RESOURCES

TDR PROVIDES AN ALTERNATIVE MECHANISM TO SUPPORT RELOCATION

HIGHER STANDARDS

ELEVATE STRUCTURES ABOVE THE BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE) AND INCLUDE FREEBOARD

USE ADVISORY BFEsREQUIRE V ZONE (COASTAL HIGH HAZARD

AREA) STANDARDS IN COASTAL A ZONES CONSIDER V ZONE STANDARDS FOR

SURGE-PRONE BAYFRONT AREASCONSIDER NEW REQUIREMENTS TO

ADDRESS POTENTIAL FOUNDATION FAILURE IN A ZONES

REGULATIONSRESCIND EXECUTIVE ORDER #2ADOPT REGULATIONS THAT EXCEED FEDERAL

MINIMUM STANDARDSAPPLY A STRICT PROHIBITION OF DEVELOPMENT

ON BEACHES, DUNES AND COASTAL WETLANDSPROHIBIT ENLARGEMENT OF EXISTING

STRUCTURES IN V ZONES AND EROSION HAZARD AREAS

APPLY COASTAL HIGH HAZARD AREA AND EROSION HAZARD AREA CZM RULES TO ALL DEVELOPMENT

LAND USE MANAGEMENTINCORPORATE DEVELOPMENT SETBACKS

FROM BEACHES, DUNES AND WETLANDSDESIGNATE SETBACK AREAS FOR

NATURAL RESOURCE RESTORATIONADOPT CONSERVATION ZONING ALONG

OCEAN AND BAY SHOREFRONTSLIMIT DEVELOPMENT DENSITY IN V

ZONES AND EROSION HAZARD AREASELIMINATE NON-CONFORMING USES IN

POST-STORM SCENARIO

NATURAL RESOURCE PROTECTIONAND RESTORATION

REQUIRE DUNE CREATION AND ENHANCEMENT…EVERYWHERE!

CONDITION STATE & FEDERAL AID ACCORDINGLY

USE CZM STANDARD FOR OPTIMAL DUNE VOLUME

PROHIBIT LOWERING OF DUNESPROVIDE INCREASED BUFFERS TO ALLOW FOR

COASTAL WETLAND MIGRATION OVER TIMECONSIDER SHALLOW WATER FILL FOR

WETLANDS RESTORATION IN BAYS

FLOODPROOFING AND RETROFITTING

AN IMPORTANT TOOL FOR HEAVILY DEVELOPED URBAN AREAS

ELEVATE STRUCTURES WHERE POSSIBLEUPGRADE STORMWATER MANAGEMENT

SYSTEMS…INCLUDE BACKFLOW PREVENTION

FLOODPROOF DOORS AND WINDOWSELEVATE UTILITIES AND APPLIANCESUTILIZE WATER RESISTANT BUILDING

MATERIALS

LEGISLATIONCAFRA LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS: OVERSIGHT?RE-EVALUATE CAFRA ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO

REBUILD STRUCTURES DESTROYED BY STORMSCONSIDER DEVELOPMENT PROHIBITION FOR

STORM DAMAGED STRUCTURES IN V ZONES AND EROSION HAZARD AREAS

LINK DEVELOPMENT PROHIBITION TO BLUE ACRES FUNDING TO COMPENSATE PROPERTY OWNERS

ESTABLISH COASTAL COMMISSION TO FACILITATE REGIONAL PLANNING IN COASTAL ZONE?

DUNE AND SHOREFRONT PROTECTION ACT?

THE BAD NEWSDESPITE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS SPENT TO

“CONTROL” FLOODING AND REDUCE RISK, STATISTICS SHOW THAT EACH DECADE SINCE 1900 HAS WITNESSED MORE FLOOD LOSSES

THAN THE PREVIOUS DECADE

WE CONTINUE ON THE SAME PATH AND REPEAT PAST MISTAKES WITHOUT MAJOR CHANGES IN POLICY AND REGULATION

SANDY DEMONSTRATED THAT WE CANNOT AFFORD A “BUSINESS AS USUAL” ATTITUDE

THE GOOD NEWSWE KNOW WHAT WORKS

WE HAVE A BROAD RANGE OF PROVEN MITIGATION STRATEGIES AVAILABLE

SANDY PROVIDES A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY TO IMPLEMENT ACTIONS THAT WILL MITIGATE DAMAGES, COSTS

AND MISERY OF FUTURE STORM EVENTS

THE $34 BILLION QUESTION…

CAN NEW JERSEY’S LEADERS SUMMON THE POLITICAL WILL TO IMPLEMENT BOLD, DECISIVE AND COST-EFFECTIVE

ACTIONS NOW, TO ENSURE MORE RESILIENT COMMUNITIES IN THE

FUTURE?

( LET’S MAKE SURE THAT THEY DO! )