Sea-level policy
to be toned down

Beaufort County leaders are pleased with a recent decision by the state’s coastal regulators to tone down a proposed policy on sea-level rise.

They thanked the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission, the board that sets rules for the coastal counties covered by the state’s Coastal Area Management Act, for responding to public opinion on the issue.

“I am pleased by the decision,” said Beaufort County Commissioner Hood Richardson.╩

Richardson was one of three county commissioners last month who said they were concerned about the effects on the Beaufort County economy of an estimate by the Division of Coastal Management that sea levels will rise by one meter, or about 3.28 feet, by 2100.

If it had been approved by the commission, the one-meter rise benchmark would have been required to be used in land-use plans developed by counties covered by CAMA, and private development and public infrastructure will have to be designed to avoid the effects of sea-level rise, the commissioners were told last month.

Commissioner Robert Cayton also said he is pleased the Coastal Resources Commission chose to back off from the one-meter estimate.

Last month, the board appointed a three-member committee comprised of Cayton, Richardson and Al Klemm to develop a plan to defeat any future regulations proposed by coastal regulators as a result of the new policy.

In reaction to public feedback, the Coastal Resources Commission on Feb. 24 changed the wording in its draft of policies on sea-level rise.

Instead of establishing a one-meter benchmark for sea-level rise along the entire North Carolina coast, the policy now stipulates that the sea level will rise at different rates in different locations, according to copies of the policy presented to the commissioners.

“As a result, specific adaptation measures might not be appropriate for all communities in the coastal zone, or at the same time,” the policy now reads.

Instead of stipulating that coastal communities “should” use the one-meter benchmark in their land-use plans, the policy now states that the commission “encourages coastal communities to consider regional and projected rates of sea-level rise in local land use and development planning.”

This policy debate is the latest in a decades-long discussion among North Carolina coastal regulators and scientists of the possible effects of a rise in sea level on the state’s coastal counties.

In a March 2010 study, the Science Panel on Coastal Hazards said the state should anticipate the one-meter rise in sea level by the year 2100.

Beaufort County’s commissioners were among those who questioned why the one-meter measurement should be used for the entire coast when scientists generally believe that some areas would be more affected by sea-level rise than others.