Developing Public Policy to Address Rising Sea Level.
From David Mandelbaum of GT Philadelphia.
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has announced that it is developing a Statewide Adaptation Plan for Sea Level Rise. Ultimately, this effort should affect coastal construction standards, beach protection and nourishment, and similar matters. It may point the way to some areas of public, or P3, infrastructure investment, as well as new regulatory controls on private projects. Put simply, you may not want to be owning or contemplating now a structure sea-ward of where the coastal storm hazard will be in 2030 or 2040, at least according to DNREC Secretary Colin O'Mara's comments on NPR. There is a somewhat parallel effort underway in Maryland, and a pertinent summary of what the Adaptation and Response Working Group is thinking posted here. Other coastal states are not focused on "adaptation" -- that is, coping with sea level rise and other climate change effects -- but instead seem to be pursuing mitigation -- that is, trying to avoid climate effects.
