Virginia DEQ
Home MenuCoastal Needs Assessment and Strategies
Population growth along Virginia's coast brings new challenges to managing the Commonwealth's coastal resources.
Every five years the Virginia CZM Program assesses the status of Virginia’s coastal resources and management efforts to identify coastal enhancement areas of high priority need.
Working with state agencies, local governments and other stakeholders, Virginia CZM Program staff then draft five-year grant strategies to develop enforceable policies to better manage these high priority areas.
What is a "coastal enhancement area" and a "coastal needs assessment"?
When the federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) was reauthorized in 1990, a new program was created to provide voluntary, match-free funding to coastal states to address needs in nine coastal areas, also known as "coastal enhancement areas":
- wetlands
- coastal hazards
- public access
- marine debris
- cumulative and secondary impacts
- special area management planning (SAMPs)
- ocean resources
- energy and government facility siting
- aquaculture
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) distributes CZMA funds and requires that coastal states assess changes, progress and new issues in these areas every five years.
Visit the NOAA Office for Coastal Management Coastal Enhancement Program web page for more information.
How does Virginia CZM Program prioritize coastal enhancement areas?
The Virginia CZM Program's Coastal Policy Team (CPT) meets to review and prioritize the nine assessment areas (high, medium or low). The CPT considers the criteria listed below to determine the priority for each area.
- Feasibility: Can progress be made within the five-year strategy time-period with the funding available? Is successful development of enforceable policies likely? Is adoption of enforceable policies likely?
- Importance: Is there a significant threat in this enhancement area? How valuable (economically or ecologically) is the coastal resource?
- Appropriateness for the Virginia CZM Program: Is this an issue that agencies are not addressing? Is there a need for coordination of efforts within Virginia?
What are "coastal strategies" and how are they developed?
Once the Virginia CZM Program has conducted its Coastal Needs Assessment, and prioritizes the areas, the program develops five-year Coastal Strategies to address improvements in the areas of high priority. These strategies are developed with input from the program's partners and constituencies through focus groups and strategy work group meetings.
The completed Virginia Coastal Needs Assessment and Strategies document is made available for Public Comment on the Virginia CZM Program website. Virginia CZM Program staff then send the document to NOAA's Office for Coastal Management for approval.
Once NOAA's approval is received, specific grant projects are developed to accomplish the strategies over the five-year period. The proposals for these projects are then approved annually by NOAA's Office for Coastal Management.
Pending NOAA's approval of the proposals, the Virginia CZM Program receives approximately $520,000 - $540,000 each year over five years to implement its strategies.