Federal Coastal Storm Risk Management Projects

Floor Speech

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Mr. TIFFANY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 524) to amend the Coastal Barrier Resources Act to create an exemption for certain shoreline borrow sites, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 524

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. FEDERAL COASTAL STORM RISK MANAGEMENT PROJECTS.

Section 6(a) of the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (16 U.S.C. 3505(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``(7) Use of a sand source within a System unit by Federal coastal storm risk management projects or their predecessor projects that have used a system unit for sand to nourish adjacent beaches outside the System pursuant to section 5 of the Act of August 18, 1941 (commonly known as the `Flood Control Act of 1941') (55 Stat. 650, chapter 377; 33 U.S.C. 701n) at least once between December 31, 2008 and December 31, 2023 in response to an emergency situation prior to December 31, 2023.''.

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Mr. TIFFANY. 524, as amended, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 524, sponsored by my colleague Congressman Rouzer of North Carolina. This bill amends the Coastal Barrier Resources Act, or CBRA, to ensure coastal communities have access to the resources they need to renourish their beaches, protect public safety, and strengthen their local economies.

This bill would amend CBRA to ensure communities that have been using sites located within the CBRA's system as a source of sand to renourish beaches in response to an emergency between December 31, 2008, and December 31, 2023, will be allowed to continue doing so.

Without it, communities like Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, in Mr. Rouzer's district, which has been using the same site for the last 60 years to renourish its beach, would be left with few realistic and cost-effective options to carry out their necessary projects, which serve as a critical tool in protecting vulnerable communities.

As we heard from the mayor of Wrightsville Beach at the hearing on this bill, enacting H.R. 524 would enable both the Federal Government and local governments to achieve the primary goals of CBRA at a lower cost to taxpayers by avoiding the necessity to complete beach nourishment using sand from offshore sites.

For example, the most recent completed beach nourishment event took place in 2018 at a cost of $11.9 million. If Wrightsville Beach is forced to utilize an offshore borrow site, costs could exceed $25 million for the same project.

This is a commonsense bill that protects coastal communities while accomplishing the goals of CBRA.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, America is blessed with pristine coastlines that are both vital ecosystems and vital economic engines. CBRA is an important safeguard that helps us as a Nation balance these two important factors. H.R. 524 furthers this ideal by ensuring that local communities who rely on beach renourishment projects to protect their citizens and their beaches can responsibly continue to do so.

I thank Congressman Rouzer, once again, for his leadership on this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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