[Senate Hearing 117-253]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





                             



                                                        S. Hrg. 117-253
 
 EXAMINING SHORELINE AND RIVERBANK RESTORATION IN THE FACE OF CLIMATE 
                                 CHANGE

=======================================================================

                             FIELD HEARING

                               before the

                              COMMITTEE ON
                      ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                           FEBRUARY 23, 2022

                               __________

  Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works
  
  
  
  
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        Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
        
        
        
                          ______
 
              U.S.   GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
 47-534PDF                WASHINGTON : 2023       
 
        
        
               COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                  THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware, Chairman
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland         SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West 
BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont                 Virginia 
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island         Ranking Member
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon                 JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts      KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois            CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming
DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan            RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama
MARK KELLY, Arizona                  JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
ALEX PADILLA, California             ROGER WICKER, Mississippi
                                     DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
                                     JONI ERNST, Iowa
                                     LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina

             Mary Frances Repko, Democratic Staff Director
               Adam Tomlinson, Republican Staff Director
                            C O N T E N T S

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                                                                   Page

                           FEBRUARY 23, 2022
                           OPENING STATEMENTS

Carper, Hon. Thomas R., U.S. Senator from the State of Delaware..     1

                               WITNESSES

Graham, William, Major General...................................     7
    Prepared statement...........................................    10
Kelly, Jason E., Brigadier General...............................    16
    Prepared statement...........................................    18
Edwards, John Bel, Louisiana Governor............................    32
    Prepared statement...........................................    36
Carney, John, Delaware Governor..................................    47
    Prepared statement...........................................    50
Lock, Kathleen, Slaughter Beach Mayor............................    52
    Prepared statement...........................................    56
Brockbank, Derek, Executive Director, Coastal States Organization    63
    Prepared statement...........................................    66


 EXAMINING SHORELINE AND RIVERBANK RESTORATION IN THE FACE OF CLIMATE 
                                 CHANGE

                              ----------                              


                      WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022

                                       U.S. Senate,
                 Committee on Environment and Public Works,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The committee, met, pursuant to notice, at 10:00 a.m. at 
Bethany Beach Town Hall, Hon. Thomas R. Carper (chairman of the 
committee) presiding.
    Present: Senator Carper, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt 
Rochester.

          OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS R. CARPER, 
            U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF DELAWARE

    Senator Carper. All rise.
    I was just kidding. Congresswoman, this is an audience with 
a sense of humor. Our son Ben when he was in the third grade, 
gave advice to his fellow third graders at Brandywood 
Elementary School, home of the Bumble Bees just up north in New 
Castle County. And his advice to them was humor is everything. 
People say where did he get that. I'm not sure, but you can 
never have too much of it. Even in the midst of all the 
challenges we face here at home and around the world, there's a 
reason to be optimistic.
    I'd like to quote Albert Einstein, who used to say in 
adversity lies opportunity, in adversity lies opportunity.
    Albert Einstein was a professor at Princeton, about halfway 
between here and New York City. And he used to take the train a 
lot out of Princeton.
    And one day he got on the train and he was looking for his 
ticket. And he looked in his coat, he looked in his pants, he 
looked in his shirt, he looked in his briefcase. He couldn't 
find his ticket.
    And the conductor comes along. And Albert Einstein is 
pretty anxious. And the conductor said Dr. Einstein, we know 
you, we know who you are, we know you ride the train a lot, so 
don't worry about it, you're OK.
    And then he walks away, the conductor walks away and starts 
to go into the next car. And just before he goes into the next 
car, he looks back into the car and he sees Dr. Einstein down 
on his hands and knees looking for his train ticket. And the 
conductor rushes back there. He says Dr. Einstein, Dr. 
Einstein, don't do this, you ride the train all the time, we 
know who you are, we know who you are. And Dr. Einstein looked 
up from his hands and knees and he says young man, I know who I 
am, too. I just don't know where I'm supposed to go.
    We're going to talk a little bit today about where we need 
to go, where we need to go. I'm delighted to be joined here by 
Lisa Blunt Rochester, who serves our State in so many different 
capacities. And we're delighted to be joined here by our 
leaders, leadership from the Army Corps of Engineers. I'm a 
retired Navy captain. I always say when I'm around people in 
the Army, different uniforms but the same team.
    And here in this--I'll just get this off my chest. We love 
the Army Corps of Engineers. And you and the folks that you 
lead have helped out State in so many ways, continue to help 
our State in so many ways from the Maryland line all the way up 
to Pennsylvania. And we probably don't say thank you enough. We 
try to, but thank you for all that and your folks do for us, do 
with us, and thank you for joining us here today.
    I have about a 2-hour statement that I will open with. Then 
we'll have lunch. It won't seem like 2 hours, but it's a lot 
shorter. I can assure you. But we brought this gavel in. And if 
I don't use it, my staff will kill me. There you go. And if 
people nod off, I'm going to use it again. I see here in the 
audience we're joined by my former colleague, Mary Landrieu. 
Mary, stand up.
    Let's give Mary a nice round of applause. Her husband, 
Ernest Frank. Mary, like me, is a former State treasurer and 
she and I served together. Pretty good partners for any number 
of years in the Senate. And delighted to see both of you here 
today. The letter C figures prominently in the history of our 
State. The letter C figures prominently in the history of our 
State. Many, many years ago, colonists came from all over the 
world, from the Netherlands, the Dutch, we had Swedes, the 
Finns. Just people came from all over the world to settle 
Delaware and settle this country. But the letter C, colonists. 
A lot of them raised corn. And as time would go by, a lot of 
them would raise chickens, which would eat the corn.
    Over 100 years ago, we changed our Constitution in order to 
make Delaware an attractive place for companies to incorporate. 
And today I think there are more Fortunate 500 companies 
incorporated in the State of Delaware than in any State in the 
country. So corporations is a big deal. Constitution. We were 
the first State to ratify the constitution. About 70, 80 miles 
up the road in Dover, 25 white guys gathered at the Golden 
Fleece Tavern for two or 3 days, drank a lot of milk, reviewed 
the document that had been sent down from Philadelphia. And 
after 3 days of debate, ratified it unanimously. So we became 
the First State.
    Cars. There was a time not that long ago where we built 
more cars. We had a huge plant, as Lisa remembers, as our 
lieutenant Governor remembers. Huge plant, a Chrysler plant in 
Newark and a huge GM plant near New Port, Delaware.
    And so we are also famous for our credit cards. Raise your 
hand if you have a credit card on your body or your purse. If 
you have a credit card, there's about a 60 percent chance that 
it was issued from a bank in Delaware. For those of you who 
don't always promptly pay your fees, thank you. You are 
forgiven and encouraged.
    A lot of companies here, a lot of companies here over the 
years. A lot of them are mom and pops, but some of them are 
pretty big. The DuPont Company is just one of those that are 
really big. We have some of the biggest banks, corporations 
really around the world. And big companies like AstraZeneca 
call Delaware their American home headquarters. We have also 
leaders like Carney, John Carney, our Governor. Like Castle, 
who was our Governor and our Congressman. Like Carper. And then 
we have LBR, Lisa Blunt Rochester.
    Congresswoman Rochester. Forget Coons.
    Senator Carper. Oh, Coons, our Senator.
    And we have LBR. No C there. So somebody said one time 
maybe no C, but a really cool Congresswoman. There you go. Can 
I get an amen? Can I get an amen? Amen. And we have coasts. We 
have a big coast here for a little State. And we have a lot of 
five-star beaches. The last time I checked, we had more five-
star beaches than any State in America, something we're really 
proud of. And one of them is named after our Lieutenant 
Governor Bethany Hall, Bethany. Nice round of applause.
    Thank you.
    Senator Carper. And we have a couple of other Cs that are 
more troublesome. And one of those is climate change. It's not 
something I thought a whole lot about when I used to come here 
as a guy in graduate school right out of the Navy. Didn't think 
a lot about climate change at that time. Just thought about 
having a good time, and we certainly did. I made my decision to 
run for State treasurer at the age of 29 just a few miles up 
the road from here on a beach, a Delaware beach just up the 
road. My wife and I for many years would come to Bethany Beach 
with our sons when they were younger, just little guys. And we 
actually made the decision, a family decision for me to run for 
Governor right here in Bethany Beach out of Bethany West where 
we had rented a house. So this place has a special meaning for 
me and for our family.
    And the other C I want to mention is the Corps, the Army 
Corps of Engineers. I'm privileged to serve as chairman of a 
committee called Environment and Public Works. We have 
jurisdiction over roads, highways, bridges, climate change, 
clean air, clean water, drinking water, wastewater, sanitation, 
flooding. And the Army Corps of Engineers is really part of our 
entities that we oversee. And it's really a source of joy, just 
a source of joy.
    That was an ad lib. That was a riff. And now I have to get 
even more serious and because the business before us is 
serious.
    And we are here today to discuss two immensely important 
and related topics, climate change and coastal restoration. 
Having this discussion in the communities that directly feel 
the impacts of climate change bring new perspectives and a 
greater sense of urgency to our work.
    So everyone who has traveled to Bethany
    Beach, whether you live around here or you've come from 
another State or upstate, we're happy that you have and we want 
to welcome you warmly.
    I'll thrilled that Lisa is here, our Congresswoman. And 
we've partnered on so many things in the past. I'm happy and 
delighted to be partnering with you today.
    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is a principal steward of 
our Nation's water and infrastructure. The Corps plays a 
critical role in the construction and maintenance of much of 
the infrastructure we see around us in Delaware, such as our 
Port of Wilmington, our wetlands, our marsh, and our beaches.
    The Port of Wilmington is being expanded to the north. 
Basically doubled in size, doubled in employment. We expect 
another couple thousand people to be working there in a few 
years. And none of that would happen without the help of the 
Army Corps of Engineers. So we've grateful for that.
    If you had a banana with your breakfast today and you 
bought it on the east coast, that banana came through the Port 
of Wilmington. We are the top banana port on the east coast.
    The Corps is also responsible for operating America's water 
highway, 12,000-mile long system of inland waterways that are 
vital, vital to domestic and international commerce. Each year 
this expansive system moves more than 500 million tons of 
commodities, 500 million tons of commodities. The includes 6 
percent of our Nation's agricultural exports.
    The Corps' action to operate and maintain the system 
results in economic benefit of nearly $14 billion each year, 
$14 billion each year in economic benefits, tens of thousands, 
hundreds of thousands of jobs actually. As Joe Biden would say 
actually good paying, good union jobs. Want to work that in.
    The Corps is also tasked with protecting our communities 
and our infrastructure from floods and from coastal storms. In 
2020 alone, these efforts amounted to more than $250 billion in 
damage prevention, in damage reduction. And that's not all.
    As we see in Delaware and across our nation when these 
ecosystems are protected by the
    Corps, communities are protected and important wildlife 
habitat is conserved.
    These restoration activities also drive tourism and 
ecotourism economies. For example, people travel from all over 
to enjoy our beaches and observe our beloved horseshoe crabs 
and our migratory birds.
    In the United States, more than 128 million people, this is 
a great stat, in the United States there are more than 128 
million people who live in coastal counties. That represents 
more than 40 percent of our Nation's population.
    Get this. If America's coastal counties were their own 
nation, just imagine all the counties on the coast were their 
own nation, their gross domestic product would rank third in 
the world, exceeded only by China and by the U.S. as a whole.
    Unfortunately, today these population centers, these 
engines of our economy face a growing unrelenting threat from 
climate change and many times do not compete well for Federal 
assistance due to antiquated budgeting procedures.
    Since 1901, global sea levels have risen by nearly ten 
inches. Well, that may not sound like much, but it is. And the 
story gets worse, because in the days to come, the years to 
come, we're going to witness not just ten inches of sea level 
rise, but a whole lot more.
    A recent report released actually earlier this month by 
NOAA, not Noah the flood, the ark, but
    NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, they 
released a report that got a lot of attention. It's going to 
continue to get a lot of attention.
    They project with respect to sea level rise that it's going 
to accelerate in the next 30years unless we intervene. The 
report explains that the United States will experience a 
profound increase in the frequency of coastal flooding, even in 
the absence of storms or heavy rainfall.
    The signs are clear. We must make our infrastructure both 
more resilient and more nature-based to withstand our changing 
climate.
    And while we simultaneously address the root cause of 
climate change, too much carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, 
trapping emissions from all sort of places, our cars, our 
trucks, our vans, our power plants, our manufacturing 
facilities.
    In Delaware, we've demonstrated that we can protect 
communities and the environment while also growing our economy. 
It's not a choice. We can do both and we need to do both.
    But the continued threats from climate change are 
threatening this balancing act. The same can be said for 
Louisiana. On any given day, Louisiana loses, get this, a 
football field size piece of wetlands to the sea every 100 
minutes.
    Think about that. Think about a football field every 100 
minutes. That piece of land is gone to the sea.
    That, if you add that up since 1930, it's an area the size 
of Delaware. So it's huge, huge. And it's going larger and more 
quickly. Think about it.
    These losses will only speed up if we fail to respond and 
take the action that's called for. The science is clear. The 
science is clear.
    One of my favorite songs by Thomas Dolby, a one hit wonder, 
was She Blinded Me with Science. And we don't want to be 
blinded with science. We want to be guided by science, guided 
by science.
    And the science is clear. We must attack this crisis on all 
fronts, addressing both the root causes of climate change while 
also repairing the damage that we've already experienced. The 
latter is where the Army Corps of
    Engineers plays a vital role. Despite the Corps' historical 
effectiveness of managing flood and coastal storm damages, the 
growing threat of climate change demands that this agency adapt 
to better protect our coast. And to help the agency to do so, 
Congress needs to give the Corps a proper budget and necessary 
authorities.
    Last year, in fact, last fall, not that many months ago, 
President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 
Act into law, which I had the privilege to help write and to 
manage on the floor. A large part of it came out of my 
committee that I'm privileged to chair.
    This law, combined with the expected annual appropriations 
and supplemental spending, are expected to provide the Army 
Corps of Engineers with an additional $100 billion to spend 
over the next five years.
    I'll be honest with you. That's a lot of money. It's 
probably not enough money to meet all the requirements and all 
the challenges that are facing them. But it's a huge amount of 
money compared to what we've provided them in the past.
    This historic investment will allow the Corps to begin to 
clear its deck of backlogged projects across our country and 
free up additional funds that must be used to address key 
initiates in our battle against climate change.
    To incentivize, rather to increase the focus of the Army 
Corps' mission around climate change, Congresswoman Blunt 
Rochester, Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, and Congressman 
Graves from Louisiana. What's his first name; do you know?
    Congresswoman Rochester. Garret.
    Senator Carper. Garret. Thank you. And I have introduced 
legislation known as the Shoreline Health Oversight Restoration 
Resilience and Enhancement Act. Try to put that on a bumper 
sticker. But fortunately, there's an acronym, as there is in 
most cases. And this one is the word SHORRE, the word SHORRE 
with two Rs, two Rs. I didn't do that well in spelling.
    If enacted, the SHORRE Act will empower the Corps to 
protect our Nation's coast from the effect of climate change. 
And our bill does this by elevating coastal restoration to a 
primary mission of the agency and promoting the development of 
sustainable nature-based resilience projects. Our legislation 
also facilitates the Corps' work with
    State and local partners and climate mitigation and 
ecosystem restoration projects. We look forward to discussing 
the SHORRE Act with our colleagues in Congress and working to 
include it as part of our biannual water infrastructure 
legislation that the Congress will take up this year.
    We take up Water Resources Development Act every 2 years. 
And we passed it with huge bipartisan margins. We are hopefully 
taking that up on the floor later this year and hope we get the 
same strong response and support. And part of that we hope will 
be the SHORRE legislation that I just talked about.
    And that leads us to today's hearing. We'll soon hear from 
a diverse panel of witnesses, wonderful witnesses, including 
two highly regarded coastal Governors, our own Governor and the 
Governor of Louisiana, senior Army Corps officials and 
stakeholders who are deeply invested in the health and 
resiliency of our Nation's coasts.
    And we were grateful to each of you for your presence and 
really for your leadership and eager to hear from this panel 
and others that will follow us as we discuss the critical 
intersection of climate change with our coasts and the US Army 
Corps of Engineers.
    Now a few introductions. First, Major General William, 
Butch, Graham, proud Panther. Graduate of the University of 
Pittsburgh. He was Army ROTC there. I was Navy ROTC there. Not 
there, but not far away in Ohio State. But where he's the 
current deputy commanding general for civil and emergency 
operation at headquarters U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. If that 
sounds like a big job and a big deal, it is. He has a huge, 
huge job and challenge.
    There he oversees all the Corps' civil works activities 
along with a $7 billion annual program and responses to storms 
and other natural disasters.
    His previous Corps assignments included commander of the 
Corps' North Atlantic Division in Pittsburgh district. He's 
literally served our nation all over the world. And we're 
grateful for that and honored by his presence today.
    General Graham is no stranger to Delaware. He's many times 
received parking tickets here in Bethany Beach. Never been 
towed, never been. No, he's not received any parking tickets 
until today.
    And I'm sure we can get it written off if you do. The nice 
thing about this time of the year is there's no parking meters. 
This is just great.
    I love it, love doing it at the beach in the winter.
    But anyway, we're grateful for his support and assistance 
and that of the men and women that he leads.
    General Graham, you're now recognized to make your 
statement. Welcome and thank you.

           STATEMENT OF MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM GRAHAM

    Major General Graham. Chairman Carper, Representative Blunt 
Rochester, I'm surely honored to testify before you today and 
thank you for this opportunity to discuss the important topics 
of shoreline and riverbank restoration and resiliency.
    The Corps, as you said, sir, has a primary responsibility 
for the planning and construction of flood and coastal storm 
risk management systems along our Nation's shorelines and 
rivers. The coastal storm risk management project that includes
    Bethany Beach and South Bethany provides critical 
protection from severe Atlantic storms and rising sea levels 
all along the Delaware coast.
    Incorporating natural and nature-based features, such as 
sand-filled beaches and dunes, and certainly appreciate the 
photographs that the team has assembled in front of us, this 
project provided vital protection during Hurricane Sandy in 
October of 2012, as well as during several nor'easters 
experienced in recent years.
    Project features incurred damages due to those significant 
coastal storms. Public and private property located landward, 
where we are, of the project received relatively little damage.
    The Corps and its partners have been able to reconstruct 
these project features after these events, demonstrating an 
ability to prepare, absorb, recover, and adapt to the 
continuing threat of coastal storms, and Senator, I would say 
climate change as well. This is the very definition of 
resiliency, Delaware resiliency.
    Looking regionally, examples broadly such as this clearly 
demonstrate the need for a more coordinated and resilient 
systems-based approach to flood and coastal storm risk 
management.
    Also in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Congress provided 
significant authorities and appropriations to conduct a 
comprehensive study along the north Atlantic coastline. This 
effort, called the North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study, 
highlighted the long-term challenges from coastal storms facing 
this part of the Nation. It underscored the need to support 
resilient communities. And Senator, as you mentioned, the 
ecosystems there as well.
    While still promoting equity and encouraging economic 
growth, the North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study emphasized 
a need to transition, where possible, from traditional 
structural measures, gray infrastructure, to non-structural, 
natural, and nature-based systems, green infrastructure.
    Further, given projected sea level and climate change 
trends that I mentioned earlier, the report concluded that 
further investments and development in science and engineering, 
to include research and development, is critical to ensure that 
the Corps continue to provide sound storm risk reduction 
solutions.
    This broad regional study identified nine high risk focus 
areas for more in-depth investigation. The city of Norfolk's 
Coastal Storm Risk Management Study was one of those focus 
areas. The Norfolk study was undertaken to evaluate risk 
management solutions for a major city that is predicted to be 
heavily influenced by rising sea levels.
    Approved in the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 and 
initially funded for construction through the Infrastructure 
Investment and Jobs Act, this recommended project includes four 
storm surge barriers as well as numerous non-structural 
features, such as flood proofing and building elevations.
    Additionally, the plan includes construction of oyster 
reefs and living shorelines to increase resiliency via the 
incorporation of natural and nature-based features.
    And Senator, when I leave this hearing today, I'll travel 
down to Norfolk to link up with Mr. Conner, our assistant 
secretary for the Army for civil works, to tour this very 
project.
    Senator Carper. Give him my best. Thank you.
    Major Graham. Will do, Senator.
    Across the country----
    Senator Carper. Norfolk is where the USS Delaware was 
built, most modern fast attack nuclear submarine in the world, 
which comes to Delaware Port of Wilmington on May--March 30th, 
March 31st. Be there.
    Sorry. That was a commercial.
    Major General Graham. That's a hard act to follow.
    Senator Carper. Where were we?
    Major Graham. Senator, across the country, new and ongoing 
Corps planning efforts continue to build upon the lessons 
learned in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
    The recently completed Coastal Texas Protection and 
Restoration Study, another one of these large regional studies, 
has employed a similarly comprehensive regional approach. The 
recommended plan includes a combination of aquatic ecosystem 
restoration and coastal storm risk management features that 
function as a system to reduce the risk of coastal storm damage 
to natural areas and manmade infrastructure.
    Looking nationally, the Corps continues to look ahead at 
the changing landscape of risk reduction and anticipates 
delivering a large nationwide study known as the National 
Shoreline Management Study by the end of this year.
    The National Shoreline Management Study, which is near and 
dear to I'm sure a lot of people in this room here today, 
builds on a series of eight regional assessments that explore 
shoreline erosion and accretion characteristics, certainly a 
subject that's near and dear to the State of Delaware.
    These assessments included extensive stakeholder and tribal 
engagements to make sure that our recommendations are in line 
with the changing climate.
    So moving forward, as outlined in our Climate Action Plan, 
the Corps is committed to evolving our procedures, our planning 
efforts, and project operations to bolster adaptation and 
increase resilience to the impacts of climate change. In doing 
so, the Corps seeks to develop opportunities to enhance the 
effectiveness of our civil works project and reduce risks to 
vulnerable communities.
    Chairman, thank you and thank you, Representative Blunt 
Rochester, for providing us the opportunity to testify here 
today. And I look forward to answering any of your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Major General Graham follows:]
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    Senator Carper. Thank you very much, General.
    The second witness is Brigadier General Jason E. What does 
the E. stand for?
    Brigadier General Kelly. Eric, sir.
    Senator Carper. General Kelly, commanding general for the 
South Atlantic Division of the Army Corps of Engineers. General 
Kelly did not go to the Naval Academy. Where did you go to 
school? Was it west? By a point?
    Brigadier General Kelly. Chairman, I'm a proud graduate of 
the United States Military Academy at West Point.
    Senator Carper. Navy salutes you.
    General Kelly is responsible for 25,000 square mile area, 
which includes all or part of the eight southern states, 
including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. General 
Kelly comes to us with a different perspective that given the 
destructive hurricanes that settled over Puerto Rico and Virgin 
Islands and wrecked such havoc will be critical as we work on 
these policies. General Kelly, we're delighted that you're 
here. Thanks for bringing the General with you. And you're 
recognized to give us your statement.
    Thank you.

         STATEMENT OF BRIGADIER GENERAL JASON E. KELLY

    Brigadier General Kelly. Chairman Carper, Representative 
Blunt Rochester, I'm honored to testify before you today and 
greatly appreciate the time you've allocated for me to present 
features of the United States Army Corps of Engineers South 
Atlantic Division Civil Works Program.
    I welcome the opportunity to share ongoing shoreline and 
riverbank restoration improvement efforts. Our productive and 
positive use of dredge material, the many ways that we're using 
innovation and efficiencies to address comprehensive benefits, 
identify and assist economically distressed and historically 
underserved communities, and enhance resiliency to accommodate 
sea level rise and other impacts from global climate change.
    Most importantly, I look forward to working with this 
committee, the Congress, and the administration to help address 
the Nation's water resources challenges. The South Atlantic 
Division has a diverse Civil Works Program that includes 
projects in commercial navigation, flood and storm damage risk 
reduction, and ecosystem restoration.
    Our region includes the navigation channels, ports, and 
waterways in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, 
Mississippi, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 
We're responsible for the Enterprise Deep Draft Navigation 
Center of Expertise and the Everglades restoration effort, the 
largest ecosystem restoration program in the world.
    I'm especially excited to highlight the South Atlantic 
Coastal Study, commonly referred to as SACS, the largest 
coastal risk assessment ever conducted by the Corps of 
Engineers, covering more than 60,000 miles, six states, and two 
territories.
    This is a mammoth undertaking, a great example of our goal 
to maximize the use of research and development, while 
promoting community resilience through partnering.
    It best illustrates our effort to overcome institutional 
barriers and adapt to climate change to include sea level rise.
    America's water resources, rivers, wetlands, inland and 
coastal waterways, and more, support billions of dollars in 
recreation and commerce, affect public safety, restore much-
needed habitat for fish and wildlife, and provide water supply 
benefits.
    Army Corps of Engineers' decisionmakers must ascertain the 
Federal interest for competing alternatives and recommend plans 
worthy of Federal investment.
    In addition to the national economic benefits account, 
innovative methods of determination are being implemented now 
to fully capture maximum benefits that may be affected by other 
accounts, to include regional economic development, 
environmental quality, and other social effects.
    Examples in my region of responsibility include the South 
Atlantic Coastal Study, Selma, the Charleston Peninsula, and 
the San Juan metro flood risk management projects. The 
aforementioned projects are but a sampling, intended to 
highlight how the South Atlantic Division is addressing 
comprehensive benefits, identifying and assisting economically 
disadvantaged and distressed communities to include rural and 
tribal communities, and enhancing the resiliency of our 
shorelines and riverbanks to accommodate sea level rise and 
other global climate change impacts.
    As emphasized in Lieutenant General Spellman's testimony to 
this committee last month, the Corps continues to seek 
opportunities to identify and document the full spectrum of 
economic, environmental, and other benefits to the Nation.
    The projects that I've mentioned are all recent examples of 
this commitment in action. We're committed to ensuring that the 
South Atlantic Division will continue to seek innovative ways 
to identify the most equitable and efficient solutions to our 
Nation's water resources, issues in a manner that is of high 
engineering and economic and environmental quality.
    Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement.
    I appreciate the opportunity to testify today. I look 
forward to answering any questions you may have. Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Brigadier General Kelly 
follows:]
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    Senator Carper. Thank you very much.
    Thank you both for your testimonies.
    My recollection is that you both have children. Is that 
right?
    General Graham, what do you have? Boy, girls, a couple of 
boys? What do you have?
    Major General Graham. Senator, I've got two older girls and 
a younger boy.
    Senator Carper. OK. General Kelly?
    Brigadier General Kelly. Sir, I have two boys.
    Senator Carper. Congresswoman Blunt Rochester, our 
lieutenant Governor, Bethany Long Hall, and others here, other 
elected, being joined by our Governor and the Governor of 
Louisiana, we go to schools a lot. We get invited to all kinds 
of schools, from kindergarten up through graduate schools and 
colleges.
    And I love going to grade schools and we'll do assemblies.
    And I'll always remember going to this one grade school 
down here in Sussex County. And I was introduced to speak. In 
the auditorium was the kindergarten all the way back to I think 
the fifth grade. And a little girl in the third grade stood up, 
and she said, after I made my remarks, and she said what do you 
do, anyway. And I said well, I'm a United States Senator. And 
she said well, what do you do. And I said well, I help make the 
rules for our country.
    I asked if they had rules for her school. She said yes. I 
said do you have rules on your bus. And she said yes. I said 
you have rules at home. She said yes. I said we have rules for 
our country.
    And along with 99 other senators, 435 U.S. Representatives, 
and the president, we help make the rules for our country.
    The little boy sitting next to her said what else do you 
do. And I responded we help people. We help people in all 
different kinds of ways.
    And as parents yourselves, if you're in a school in 
Delaware or some other place, and a third and fourth grader 
stood up and said what do you do at the Army Corps of 
Engineers, General Graham, how would you explain it so that 
child might be able to understand the importance of what you 
do?
    Major General Graham. Senator, we help people, too. We help 
communities like we're standing in here today. And that's why 
the 34,000 men and women who make up the Army Corps of 
Engineers have joined us, because they value this work. They 
love delivering for the State of Delaware. Certainly the 
Philadelphia district that supports the State is absolutely 
committed to that.
    So Senator, I think the way I would answer that is similar 
fashion, we help people.
    Senator Carper. Good.
    I can barely see General Kelly's lips move when you gave 
that answer. So I think you two are in harmony. OK. All right.
    General Graham, you have previously testified that the 
Corps accounts for climate change when it formulates a project, 
and that's true.
    But it's clear that the Corps only formulates projects to 
address coastal and river storm surge and not the other impacts 
of climate change, such as extreme rainfall and sea level rise.
    In places like Delaware and Louisiana, the Corps' failure 
to account for a full range of climate impacts excludes a good 
number of projects from consideration and severely 
disadvantages these states.
    Here is my question. How can the provisions of this 
legislation I described earlier, the SHORRE Act, how can the 
provisions of that legislation help the Army Corps of Engineers 
better address the impacts of climate change as you design 
projects to work on? Go ahead, please.
    Major General Graham. Chairman Carper, thank you very much 
for that question.
    At the request of your team, we are currently working to 
answer that very question and preparing effect statements on 
the provisions of the SHORRE Act. And those will be available 
shortly.
    After the hearing, I'll certainly get on the phone and make 
sure that we'll check on the progress to make sure that those 
effect statements are on track.
    Chairman, regarding how we currently consider climate 
change, our authorities are based on the analysis of specific 
storm events. And to that end, we analyze all aspects of the 
flooding problem, including contributions from rainfall, high 
rivers, and sea level rise, which is known as combination 
flooding.
    And certainly to the testimony that you're going to receive 
after us, the folks coming up from Louisiana, combination 
flooding with the Mississippi River, the Gulf, and hurricanes 
rolling in off the Gulf, they are at ground zero for that 
combination flooding.
    We are, the Corps of Engineers, consistently updating, 
innovating, and improving our engineering processes, our key 
modeling, and the research and development that underpins all 
of that engineering.
    Senator Carper. Thank you. Thanks very much.
    Maybe a follow-up, quick follow-up. How should the Army 
Corps and the Office of Management and Budget alter their 
budgeting process so that the Corps can better plan for and 
execute projects designed to address a broader range of climate 
change impacts?
    Major General Graham. Chairman, thank you for that 
question.
    General Kelly touched on this earlier. And we've been 
working together for many, many years. But the Corps strives 
always to maximize the benefits to help people.
    Our job is to provide Mr. Conner, the assistant secretary 
of the Army for civil works, with our best technical 
recommendation.
    Mr. R.D. James, who was the previous assistant secretary of 
the Army for civil works, he provided about 2 years ago the 
Corps guidance to use all four of the PR--principles, 
requirements, and guidelines benefit categories that General 
Kelly spoke to earlier, the national economic development 
benefits, the regional economic development benefits, the 
environmental benefits, and the other societal benefits.
    We hadn't been allowed to use those all in the past. Mr. 
James allowed us to use those. And Mr. Conner has told us that 
he supports that decision and he's going to provide us refined 
guidance in the future.
    So that's what our teams are currently working on to be 
able to provide all those benefits.
    Senator Carper. Thank you. Another question for General 
Graham relating to climate change in project formulation. As 
you know, the new NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, sea level rise report just came out on February 
15th, not even two weeks ago. This report paints a very 
sobering, very sobering picture for our country, really for the 
world, but for our country at large about the needs to address 
climate change. But it also has real implication for coastal 
communities, like this community right now.
    As our Congresswoman, as our lieutenant Governor, and as 
our Governor knows, Delaware is the lowest lying State in the 
country. Our State is sinking. And the seas around us are 
rising. If that doesn't get our attention, something is wrong.
    But here is my question. The report of NOAA on sea level 
rise really underlines the need to address climate change. But 
it also has real implications for coastal communities, like 
right now.
    Technical assistance provided to my staff during the 
drafting of both this SHORRE legislation I keep talking about 
and the coming Water Resources Development Act, which we hope 
to fold the SHORRE Act into, the larger piece of legislation, 
later this spring. We were told that when the report is final, 
the Corps will, and this is a quote, consider and update the 
technical guidance and if appropriate, update those documents.
    Given the Corps was the coauthor of the report, what are 
the next steps for the agency in the process of incorporating 
the findings and updated sea level projections into project 
design and implementation?
    I'll just say, our witnesses know this, if you go back 30, 
40, 50, maybe 60, 70 years look at sea level rise, it's maybe 
eight, nine, ten inches over close to a century. That's going 
to continue.
    That's the bad news.
    The really bad news is it's going to continue a lot faster.
    And the question is are we fast enough on our feet to get 
ready for it and turn it around before it's too late?
    General Graham, go ahead.
    Major General Graham. Chairman Carper, that is--the 
question is not if the sea level behind us is going to rise, 
it's when.
    And we've been incorporating for decades various sea level 
rise scenarios that address that very question. Not if, but 
when.
    And we will take a look at the specific geographical area 
and we'll look at three scenarios; a high, medium, and low.
    And it's not, again, Chairman, when the sea level is going 
to rise--sorry. It's not if the sea level is going to rise, 
it's when.
    In General Kelly's area, we're expecting one to two feet. 
In the Gulf region, certainly two feet. In this region, about a 
foot to 18 inches is what we're expecting, as the NOAA report 
said, over the next 50 to 60 years. And Chairman, as you said, 
that's accelerating.
    So sir, you have our absolute commitment that we are going 
to ensure that our guiding engineering doctrine incorporates 
that in real time.
    Senator Carper. All right. I'm going to turn now, General 
Kelly, to a question or two for you if I could.
    On the scope of feasibility studies, as a leader of the 
South Atlantic Division, you currently oversee a number of 
studies and projects for communities in the southeast, I think 
in Puerto Rico also, that are at risk from climate change.
    In the course of study of the Charleston Peninsula in 
southern Carolina, in South Carolina, the initial project 
recommendations by the Corps raised significant public 
concerns, as you know.
    The public felt that there were several shortcomings in the 
Corps' decisionmaking, including an over reliance on 
constructed project elements. Also, the exclusion of 
economically disadvantaged communities from the project benefit 
area and a failure to identify holistic solutions that would 
address flood risk other than storm surge.
    Here is my question. What are the key lessons you learned 
from the Charleston Peninsula study process? And are there 
provisions in the SHORRE Act, this legislation I keep talking 
about, that will help future studies avoid the problems that 
you've encountered?
    Brigadier General Kelly. Chairman Carper, for me, the first 
lesson and one that continues to provide benefits for my 
command, good partnership, the value of good partnership, 
persistent engagement, and transparency cannot be overstated.
    The Charleston Peninsula has a high level and risk 
vulnerability to coastal storms. And this is exacerbated by the 
combination that General Graham mentioned of sea level rise and 
climate change. And that was true over the period of analysis.
    The study investigated storm surge, but we also recognize 
that this area is prone to flooding, specifically sunny day 
tides. And that was not investigated in the study.
    The recommended plan has a robust benefit to cost ratio of 
11 to one. And it will reduce risk posed by coastal storm surge 
and also enhance the city of Charleston's ability to quickly 
recover from storm surge disruptions.
    As you mentioned, the prominent feature of the plan is a 
storm surge wall, but it also includes three areas of non-
structural measures where a storm surge wall was not optimal 
based on topography and location of the storm surge sources.
    Two particular areas that I call out is the Rose Mont and 
Bridge Water Village, both economically disadvantaged 
communities within the study area. The non-structural measures 
recommended in these communities include flood proofing and 
structural elevation raises.
    When I think about the lesson learned and the persistent 
engagement, the study team engaged with residents and business 
owners during the planning process through a series of outreach 
meetings. And based on this feedback, we recognize the need to 
migrate from an environmental assessment to an environmental 
impact statement to make sure that we disclose the potentially 
damaging environmental, cultural, and visual impacts of the 
project.
    This EIS is underway. And it will include a more detailed 
mitigation plan and a more robust environmental justice 
analysis.
    The Corps is currently preparing the effect statements, as 
General Graham mentioned, for the specific SHORRE Act, but I 
support a holistic process for flood risk management and full 
consideration of environmental justice for disadvantaged 
communities without doubt.
    Senator Carper. That's encouraging.
    Thank you very much.
    One last question. And I'm going to turn to our 
Congresswoman, and then bring out our next panel.
    General Graham, with respect to improving outreach and 
improving partnering, at the Water Resource Development 
Oversight, the hearing that our committee held in Washington 
last month, General Spellman acknowledged that the Corps has a 
consistency problem when it comes to district outreach and 
partnering activities with local project stakeholders.
    Apparently some districts reach out to communities within 
their areas of responsibility proactively and they do it often, 
as you know.
    While other districts largely leave communities in the dark 
to fend for themselves when it comes to identifying the 
opportunities that the Corps programs provide.
    We have experienced this at times in Delaware, and I 
believe we are on a path to resolving this problem here.
    Question. Would you please share a few of the details about 
the Corps' new partnering guidelines and play book and explain 
how this new guidance will help the Army Corps of Engineers be 
a better partner in the future?
    Major General Graham. Chairman Carper, again thank you for 
that question.
    So the Corps doesn't do anything on its own, as we 
witnessed here in the State of Delaware.
    Improving partnerships and transparency has been a priority 
for Lieutenant General Spellman from day one.
    Our updated partnership guidance are focused on creating 
and maintaining sound partnerships to enable the safe delivery 
of quality projects that are on time and within budget.
    Sound partnership requires proactive engagements at all 
echelons, and it's rooted in three mutually supported elements: 
Commitment, collaboration, and most importantly, collaboration.
    And communication, sorry. Let me get that again.
    Commitment, collaboration, and communication.
    Senator Carper. That's a lot of Cs.
    Major General Graham. It's a lot of Cs.
    It's not corn, chicken, and corporations.
    Senator Carper. Say those Cs again.
    Those are good.
    Collaboration, right? What were the others?
    Major General Graham. Commitment and communication.
    Senator Carper. There you go.
    Major General Graham. So Senator----
    Senator Carper. That's also a secret for a long marriage.
    Major General Graham. It is.
    Regarding----
    Senator Carper. That's a hearing for another day. Please.
    Major General Graham. Chairman, to some of the challenges 
we experienced here in Delaware, when you get new authorities--
and I've got to pause here for a second to certainly thank this 
committee for getting a Water Resource and Development Act 
every 2 years. That allows my team to get good at taking those 
new authorities and putting those to work for the American 
people.
    Getting implementation guidance to General Kelly so that we 
can put those to work.
    So we greatly appreciate, sir, your leadership and having 
those bills every 2 years.
    That's wonderful.
    Senator Carper. Teamwork makes the dream work.
    Major General Graham. Absolutely. The challenge we've got 
is I've got to help the divisions and the districts take those 
new authorities and put them to practice.
    And that was probably my failing here in Delaware is that I 
didn't help out the Philadelphia district fast enough to 
understand some of these new authorities and bring up some of 
the expertise.
    General Kelly has an amazing team down in Mobile that had 
that expertise. And it was my failing for being too slow to 
connect General
    Kelly's expertise to the need here with the Philadelphia 
district to support Delaware.
    So Senator, that's my commitment is to do a better job in 
making those connections.
    Senator Carper. Well, you have atoned for your sins, and 
we're going to go forward and do good work here. Thanks so 
much.
    OK. Congresswoman, you're now recognized for the next hour.
    Congresswoman Rochester. Thank you, Senator. I think it's 5 
minutes.
    Senator Carper. Oh, OK.
    Congresswoman Rochester. But I'll take an hour.
    First of all, I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your 
leadership. We know that here in Delaware, this is not new for 
you. These are not new issues for you. And we want to thank you 
for walking the walk and not just talking the talk and also for 
allowing us to participate in today's field hearing.
    Senator Carper. You can go ahead and take the full hour.
    Congresswoman Rochester. And I also want to thank all of 
our witnesses for your testimony.
    And as the chairman was saying, all of our Cs of chickens 
and cards and chemicals. I don't know if you said chemicals, 
but chemicals. All of the different Cs. I see the mayor shaking 
his head on this one.
    I also want to highlight another C, which is strong 
communities. And really one of the reasons we're here today and 
even doing this field hearing where we're doing it is because 
we have strong communities in Delaware that have spoken up 
about the needs and sounded the alarm about the sense of 
urgency for our economy, for our environment, and also for our 
quality of life.
    And so I want to thank all of the community members, the 
mayors, the town councils2, everyone who is participating 
today, our lieutenant Governor and Governor, because we are a 
strong community.
    I'm also honored to participate in this important hearing 
and am proud to have introduced HR6705, the bipartisan SHORRE 
Act, which the---- I almost called you Governor. Harken back. 
Governor
    Carney looked up very quickly. Which the chairman has 
already shared with you is the Shoreline Health Oversight 
Restoration Resilience and Enhancement Act, along with my 
colleague Representative Graves.
    I think it's important to note that this bill, this 
legislation, is bicameral, meaning in the House and the Senate, 
which means it has a great chance of passing. And it's 
bipartisan.
    And I also think that's important to antiparticlenote, 
particularly in this moment where people feel we can't problem 
solve. And we're coming together to find common ground to 
problem solve for our coastlines, our riverbanks, and our 
shorelines.
    And so I want to thank you for your leadership.
    And the goal of this legislation is simple. It's to address 
the ongoing flooding crisis that our coastal communities and 
riverbank communities continue to face.
    And if I were asked what the Army Corps, what would I say 
to a fifth grader, I would say they're problem solvers. They 
help us to problem solve and help us to really attack these 
issues.
    I want to thank you again, Senator Carper and also Senator 
Cassidy, for your leadership.
    And I will have my first question. And my first question is 
to General Kelly. Shore protection and restoration projects 
that utilize nature-based features, such and dunes, are highly 
adaptable to climate change. However, it's unclear whether the 
Corps interprets existing authorities to permit projects to be 
modified in order to increase their resilience.
    Having assumed command of the South Atlantic Division in 
2020, you have firsthand knowledge of the Jacksonville 
district's efforts to modify federally authorized shore 
protection projects for enhanced resilience.
    I have a three-part question for you. You might want to 
take a note.
    How has the Jacksonville district worked to enhance the 
resiliency of federally authorized shore protection projects? 
Were there legal hurdles? That's No. 2. And are there 
authorities needed that could support rebuilding or repairing 
coastal projects at a higher level of resilience?
    Brigadier General Kelly. Representative Blunt Rochester, 
thank you so much for that question.
    I get excited about such things because innovative and 
efficient approaches to incorporate dunes in our existing 
projects is something we're working hard to do.
    We have some challenges in the Jacksonville district. We 
had a re-nourishment effort program for over a dozen projects 
but only constructed one. And we were unable to construct 
because making betterments to projects funded with flood 
control and coastal emergency funds with construction funds is 
not something we could do.
    But I've got some good news I want to share in that story, 
something I consider a win. We set precedent in trying to do 
this, in that when we better understood what funds we could 
use, we used that knowledge to bring several projects up to a 
modern standard. So we looked back. And we're now moving out 
with this under our regular program.
    And so in this tale is good news that we're now using to 
improve the resiliency in Florida as a result of existing 
authorities.
    And so to the third part of your question, additional 
authorities, I absolutely favor any effort that helps us build 
innovative climate resilient infrastructure, but we've also got 
to maximize the authorities we have. And that was the lesson I 
took from the aforementioned effort in Jacksonville.
    Congresswoman Rochester. Excellent.
    So again, there are some authorities that we could use 
more, and then you will share with us additional ones that 
you'd like to see.
    My next question is for General Graham.
    And I like that answer because, as we were talking about 
going from gray infrastructure to green infrastructure and 
being more resilient. And I know there are some folks in the 
audience as well that I saw that focus on these issues as well.
    General Graham, as you know, what works in Delaware doesn't 
necessarily work in other states.
    Each project design and problem comes with unique 
environmental and engineering needs.
    The Corps historically has had a rigid, perceived, some in 
here would say yes, I see a few shaking heads, top down 
approach to project design and execution. And in some ways, 
this top down approach is necessary, but a more ground up 
community-based approach is also needed to accurately identify 
projects and community needs.
    What flexibilities are needed for the Corps to better 
incorporate community input and to account for individual 
project needs, while still dressing the needs of regions and 
the country as a whole?
    Major General Graham. Representative Blunt Rochester, thank 
you so much for that question. And there's multiple answers to 
it.
    First and foremost, we've got to empower our divisions and 
our districts to get innovative.
    We've got to ensure that we're empowering our divisions and 
their subordinate districts to reach out to communities to make 
sure that we're clearly listening to them.
    Now, when we give authority and funding to the divisions to 
do these feasibility studies, we start a clock ticking on them. 
They've got to have them done in 3 years. We can extend it 
beyond that 3 years. Congress has given us the flexibility to 
do that with the approval of the assistant secretary.
    So we want to work rapidly to find solutions to those 
problems, as you mentioned. But we also have to be mindful that 
sometimes reaching consensus with the communities who we're 
partnering with might take a little bit more time.
    And so we're trying to strike that right balance of 
ensuring that we're delivering safely quality projects on time 
within schedule to include our feasible studies, but also 
acknowledging that reaching out and making sure that we're 
truly listening to communities, like in Charleston, might take 
a bit more time.
    And that's why I'm using Charleston as an example. We went 
from environmental assessment to a full-blown environmental 
impact statement. And the big difference there, for the lay 
people, and I know this is an audience mainly of experts, but 
it's really that we're listening more and making sure that 
citizens have their voices heard about what we're doing in 
their communities.
    Congresswoman Rochester. As a follow up, one of the 
challenges that we've all talked about is time. There really 
isn't the time.
    And I wonder as a part of the listening is also reaching 
out to communities to ask how to work better with them. I think 
that might be a good listening starting point as well. So I 
think that would be something that we'd love to follow-up on as 
well. What ways concretely and in an expeditious manner, 
because we know time is of the essence.
    My next question is to you, General Kelly.
    As you know, climate change is exacerbating coastal 
flooding across the country, but the coastlines of the United 
States and territories also face unique regional challenges.
    The Corps completed the North Atlantic Coastal 
Comprehensive Study in 2015. And you are in the process of 
finalizing the report, as was mentioned, for the South Atlantic 
Coastal Study.
    How do coastal protection and restoration challenges facing 
communities in the northeast and in the southeast of the 
Continental United States compare?
    Brigadier General Kelly. Representative Blunt Rochester, 
having been a commander in the North Atlantic Division under 
General Graham's charge, I'm very familiar with that effort.
    I was the commander in Norfolk. So much of the work that is 
now underway that General Graham and Mr. Conner will see, I was 
the commander when that commenced.
    Very familiar with the challenges in the northeast, at 
least the southern boundary I guess if you use by a watershed 
in Norfolk. But now in the southeast.
    I'd like to compare the North Atlantic Coastal Study with 
the South Atlantic Coastal Study that's underway now using that 
knowledge.
    Both studies seek understanding. Both studies address 
coastal storm, flood risk to vulnerable populations, property, 
ecosystems, and infrastructure. I think that's the same in the 
northeast and in the southeast.
    Perhaps the biggest difference when I think about the North 
Atlantic Coastal Study and where we are with the South Atlantic 
Coastal Study, is the North Atlantic Coastal Study was on the 
heels of Sandy. And though we had Irma and Maria in the 
territories, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, we have an 
opportunity to take that understanding that's not unique to the 
north or the south and apply it here in the Continental United 
States.
    The other thing that I offer between the two studies, and 
as I use that as my attempt to compare and contrast, what we're 
doing different with the South Atlantic Coastal Study now is 
the tools are available, the coastal hazard system.
    We're sharing and able to make decisions.
    So whatever differences there may be, we're apprized, we're 
alive and aware, and we're communicating that to our partners.
    So I think some of the communication that you asked us to 
do in a more aggressive way earlier, this particular effort is 
going to help us do that.
    And I think we'll reap benefits from it.
    Congresswoman Rochester. Thank you.
    Mr. Chairman, I am under my hour allotted time, and I yield 
back.
    Senator Carper. Thanks so much. Thanks for your wonderful 
stewardship in the State of Delaware in so many ways and for 
being here today and for providing your leadership in the House 
of
    Representatives as a member of the Energy and Commerce 
Committee.
    There's a bunch of committees in the House. The committee 
that everybody wants to be on is the Energy and Commerce 
Committee. Not everybody can serve on it. She does, which is a 
good thing for Delaware and I think a very good thing for our 
country.
    All right. Well, Generals, General Graham, General Kelly, 
we appreciate your continued dedication and service to this 
country.
    I want to say I wish all of you could be sitting up here 
with us and just watching the expressions on their faces, their 
eyes, as they talk about the work, the responsibilities that 
they have and the relish with which they address them.
    And I like to say everything I do, I know I can do better. 
And we've heard from the Army Corps that as good as they are, 
they know they can do better as well, and that we're in this 
together, and together we're going to make a huge impact and a 
huge difference at a time when that's very much needed and 
expected by the people in this country.
    So thank you.
    I never ask when we hold hearings in Washington for people 
to give a round of applause for a panel of witnesses. I don't 
think I've ever done that. But the Army Corps of Engineers are 
extraordinarily important in this State and such great huge 
help in this State. I'm going to refrain from applauding, but I 
want everybody else to. Go ahead, give them a nice round of 
applause.
    All right. That's enough. Never enough.
    Thank you so much. And you're now excused.
    And we're going to transition to our second panel. They'll 
get a big round of applause, too, I'm sure when they finish.
    We're delighted to welcome our second panel of witnesses, 
which consists of four unique voices in the coastal community. 
This includes two sitting Governors, a mayor, and the director 
of a nonprofit dedicated to coastal State issues.
    If you'll come up and join us, that would be great.
    First, let me warmly welcome not one but two Governors, two 
distinguished Governors, from the State of Louisiana, from the 
State of Delaware.
    Governor Edwards took office in 2016 as I think the 56th 
Governor of Louisiana. He did such an outstanding job, that 
Louisianians elected him to a second term in 2020. That doesn't 
always happen in this business, especially when the kind of 
challenges that we face today, as you face today as Governors.
    Before taking office, Governor Edwards, a West Point 
graduate, served as lieutenant in the U.S. Army, eventually 
rising to command a rifle company in the 82d Airborne Division 
before stepping down with the rank of captain.
    It is an honor to have you here with us in the First State, 
Governor Edwards. You're recognized for your remarks.
    Common sense, practical, smart, surrounds himself with 
really smart people, respected by Governors across the Nation, 
and certainly respected by the people within his own State.
    His senators, who are both Republicans, speak very highly 
of this man, who is a Democrat.
    We're delighted that you're here. And along with John 
Carney, somebody who is really good at working across the aisle 
and getting stuff done.
    Governor, welcome aboard.
    Governor Edwards. I'm not sure I'm on. I think I am now.
    Senator Carper. There we go.

        STATEMENT OF LOUISIANA GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS

    Governor Edwards. Thank you, Senator Carper, Representative 
Blunt Rochester. It's great to be here with you all this 
morning. I appreciate the opportunity to be here with my 
friend, Governor Carney, as well.
    I think your committee's focus on restoring shorelines and 
riverbanks to address climate change is very important. It 
resonates with me as we strive in Louisiana to save our coast 
from what is a land loss crisis.
    Additionally, I'm grateful that you and your colleagues 
passed a Disaster Supplemental to help us recover from 
Hurricanes Ida and Laura and Delta, as well as bipartisan 
infrastructure law.
    This funding has given us a historic opportunity to make 
significant progress for our coasts, and we thank you very 
much.
    In Louisiana, we obviously depend upon a very close 
relationship with the Army Corps of Engineers. Our economy, our 
environment rely upon their success in achieving their mission 
to promote navigation, provide flood control, and restore 
aquatic ecosystems.
    Coastal and rivering areas show the need to manage for all 
three independent objectives as impacts related to climate 
change become increasingly apparent and severe.
    I commend the committee for considering how to improve the 
synergy between the Corps mission and the need to restore our 
Nation's shorelines and riverbank ecosystems. I endorse the 
heightened focus on these coastal issues and encourage the 
Corps to elevate its commitment to coastal protection and 
restoration.
    As you may know, Louisiana was built largely by the 
movement of the Mississippi River as it spread out, the 
collected soils from across the drainage basin that now covers 
31 states and two
    Canadian provinces. Yet, that river no longer sustains our 
coastal landscape.
    Since 1930, Louisiana, as you noted, Mr. Chairman, 
Louisiana has lost 2,000 square miles of coastal wetlands. And 
as you also noted, that is about the size of Delaware.
    The loss began following the great flood of 1927, when 
Congress charged the Corps with ensuring navigation and 
providing flood control.
    The Corps succeeded. But interventions such as levies 
unfortunately keep the Mississippi River sediment trapped until 
it spills into the Gulf of Mexico. And so it no longer provides 
land sustaining benefit to the coast. It doesn't replace that 
sediment and nourish our coastline. And as a result, we 
continue to lose a football field every 100 minutes.
    If it weren't for recent hurricanes, however, our State was 
poised to start building more land than we were losing for the 
first time since 1930. But just in Hurricane Ida, we lost 106 
square miles of land. Now, some of that will naturally 
regenerate, but it still will be a net loss at the end of the 
day.
    With each acre converted to open water, our vibrant 
ecosystems shrink, our infrastructure becomes more exposed, our 
communities face heightened risk, and our natural carbon sinks 
lose capacity to offset greenhouse gas emissions. Every day the 
importance of restoring our coastal and rivering ecosystems 
becomes more evident.
    Coastal land loss is an immediate existential threat to our 
State, and climate change will only intensify the impact.
    While sediment starvation and subsidence have been major 
drivers of historic land loss, sea level rise from climate 
change will become a dominant cause of our coastal wetland loss 
in the near future, magnified by more frequent and more intense 
storms.
    For decades, coastal land loss was a slow-moving 
catastrophe that was left unaddressed.
    It took the devastating hurricane season of 2005,you'll 
always remember Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, to galvanize our 
State into action.
    We created the Coastal Protection Restoration Authority, 
call it the CPRA, to be the single entity in the State charged 
with integrating hurricane protection and coastal wetland 
restoration. We recognize that protecting communities and 
coastal ecosystems do go hand in hand, and strategic planning 
is foundational.
    CPRA develops, with significant input from the public and 
stakeholders, a science-based coastal master plan every 6 
years. And each update has been adopted by our State 
legislature with unanimous support.
    That master plan calls for coastal protection and 
restoration projects over 50 years of projected investment of 
$50 billion. And I am proud to say that we are now committing 
over a billion dollars each year to improve our coast.
    Reconnecting the Mississippi River in order to harness the 
sustaining land building power of its sediment is a cornerstone 
principle of the Coastal Master Plan. And I'm also happy to say 
that we're making great progress.
    CPRA is in the final year of Federal permitting for the $2 
billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project that would 
reconnect the
    Mississippi River to the Barataria Bay Estuary, which has 
the highest rates of land loss in south Louisiana. This project 
is a critical component in our continued recovery from the Deep 
Water Horizon oil spill, also.
    The State has entered the Federal permitting process for a 
similar project on the east bank of the Mississippi River, the 
Mid-Breton Sediment Diversion Project. And these projects have 
been supported by three consecutive Presidential 
administrations through the permitting process.
    However, even with that support, getting to the decision 
point has been a real challenge.
    One way this committee could help would be to encourage 
Federal agencies, such as the Corps, EPA, and the Council on 
Environmental Quality, to ensure timely decisionmaking.
    Simply put, we're in a race against time, and we can't 
afford unnecessary delays. The projects are designed to improve 
the overall environment. And the sooner they are constructed, 
the sooner our coastal communities can experience their 
benefits.
    After Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana greatly benefited from 
the Federal investments in the Hurricane Risk Reduction System, 
also known as HRRS.
    And we want to thank you all for the very generous help 
that you provided to our State. It provides hurricane 
protection and resiliency to the greater New Orleans area.
    And your committee heard how valuable the investment proved 
to be after Hurricane Ida made landfall this past August as one 
of the strongest storms to ever strike Louisiana.
    The previous storm that matched its intensity was 1 year 
before, which gives evidence to the increasing frequency and 
severity of our weather.
    Your committee heard how important it was and how well it 
performed withstanding the storm and preventing billions of 
dollars of property damage.
    The strengthened system protected hundreds of thousands of 
people and tens of thousands of businesses from the worst 
impacts of the storm, and it was the first major test of the 
Hurricane Storm Damage Risk Reduction System since it was 
built.
    And it absolutely performed as it was intended to.
    And I'm very proud that General Spellman testified to this 
committee that a key element of the success of that system 
during Hurricane Ida was the presence of a number of 
restoration projects that had been constructed by the State and 
by local government.
    I encourage the Corps to seek additional opportunities to 
connect ecosystem restoration projects with protection 
projects. Granting credit to restoration projects within the 
same area of the protection projects that require mitigation 
achieves this goal.
    And we have an example in Louisiana right now under 
consideration. It would be the use of the Maurepas Swamp 
Freshwater Diversion Project as mitigation for the west shore 
Lake Pontchartrain hurricane protection system. The project 
would provide in-basin mitigation by sustaining 45,000acres of 
swamp, optimize cost savings, and reduce risk to the west shore 
levy system once it's constructed.
    Through our Coastal Master Plan, Louisiana has articulated 
a clear, widely supported vision for a more sustainable coast. 
And I'm hopeful that the Corps will work closely with us to 
achieve it.
    And I want to tell you we're no longer just reacting to 
disasters. We're taking action. Earlier this month, the Climate 
Task Force that I established completed its work and submitted 
the first ever Climate Action Plan for our State, which is a 
balanced, implementable plan that charts a comprehensive 
pathway to net zero. The plan received unanimous backing from 
the members of the task force and it's the first Climate Action 
Plan created by any State in the deep south.
    I've included a copy of the executive summary of our 
Climate Action Plan as an attachment to my testimony.
    [The prepared statement of Louisiana Governor Edwards]
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    Mr. Chairman, this is the overarching view of the 
challenges Louisiana faces from major environmental threats and 
how we're responding to them. Alignment with the Corps is 
absolutely critical to our success. And therefore, I want to 
commend you and Senator Cassidy, Representative Blunt 
Rochester, and Representative Graves. This really is a 
Louisiana Delaware--or I should say a Delaware Louisiana 
effort.
    The bill would----
    Senator Carper. We did come first.
    Governor Edwards. I understand. The bill would apply the 
urgency that Louisiana has to address the challenges along our 
shores and rivers nationwide. And I greatly appreciate the 
provisions of the SHORRE Act that would help my State, such as 
authorizing the upper Barataria basin risk reduction system 
funding ecosystem restoration for (inaudible), helping the 
State receive credit from the Corps for the projects that we 
do, and conducting the lower Mississippi River Comprehensive 
Study.
    As I detail in the written statement, I also encourage the 
committee to direct the Corps to use its existing authority to 
be more flexible on the land rights it requires for restoration 
and mitigation.
    Louisiana has worked well for decades with private land 
owners on many restoration projects without purchasing land 
outright. Conservation easements are entirely sufficient. 
They're faster, they are cheaper, and they allow for a more 
favorable cost benefit ratio for these important projects. So I 
encourage the Corps to adopt the same approach.
    Obviously funding is paramount to achieving our goals. 
Revenue shared from offshore oil and gas development through 
GOMESA has been an essential funding source for coastal 
restoration protection in Louisiana. That's how we've gotten to 
over a billion dollars a year in these investments.
    And I want you to know our constitution dedicates every 
dollar to coastal restoration and protection.
    However, for years, we've received a very limited amount of 
impact assistance compared to the revenue collected with 
respect to how interior states are treated, I should say.
    While this bill is not in your committee's jurisdiction, I 
do implore you to support the Rise Act. The legislation makes 
long overdue improvements to GOMESA. And for the first time 
ever, would establish revenue sharing for offshore wind 
production, which is important for your state and for mine. 
Offshore wind is something that we are strongly pursuing.
    Mr. Chairman, we've developed an ecosystem restoration 
program that is as comprehensive and forward thinking as any 
other such plan in the world. We are attempting to restore a 
coastal ecosystem where over 2 million people live, where 
billions of dollars of industrial investment in critical 
infrastructure exists. The importance of our working coast to 
our State and to the country simply cannot be overstated. And 
so we must restore it, we must protect it.
    And ensuring the Corps has the authority but also the 
direction to increase its focus on coastal shoreline and river 
and ecosystems is of the utmost importance to the overall 
sustainability of the State of Louisiana.
    So I thank you for the opportunity to be here today, and I 
look forward to receiving and answering your questions.
    Senator Carper. Governor Edwards, we're delighted to be 
your partner in all of this and other issues as well.
    How many people here are from Delaware?
    Raise your hand. How many here have actually personally met 
Governor John Carney? How many of you think you know him pretty 
well? I'll mention a couple of things that you may not know and 
then yield to him.
    We talked a lot about football fields.
    Every 100 minutes they lose in Louisiana a piece of land 
the size of a football field to the sea.
    John Carney knows a thing or two about football fields. And 
Governor Edwards is a high school football star. He was a great 
athlete, basketball, football, other sports. But he was All 
State quarterback for us. Played in the Blue Gold Game.
    He went onto school. He was wait listed at Ohio State, but 
he managed to get into Dartmouth somehow and was a stellar 
athlete there. All Ivy defensive back as I recall there.
    And came back to Delaware. And my recollection is he was 
great at resume, but a guy named Tubby Raymond was our football 
coach for like ever at the University of Delaware. 300 wins, 
which, as you know, is a lot of wins for college football. And 
John Carney was one of his assistants during part of that time.
    And later on, worked as a top aide in Delaware to Joe Biden 
when Joe was a mere mortal.
    He was our U.S. Senator.
    Ended up helping run New Castle County, where about two-
thirds of our people live. And as the deputy chief of staff to 
a lucky Governor at one time, he negotiated the purchase of the 
Port of Wilmington from the city of Wilmington, which had no 
money to invest in the port, and engineered the turnaround for 
the Port of Wilmington, which is now just a standout port and 
one we're enormously proud of.
    He helped lead a team of Delaware officials to Wall Street 
and convince the major rating agencies, Moody's, Standard and 
Poor, and Fitch, for the first in the history of Delaware, to 
raise our credit rating to a AAA. Proud it's rating that we 
continue to enjoy.
    Other than that, he's not done much. That's just a very 
brief overview of what he's done. But the real test for John 
Carney was to be Governor during the worst pandemic in 100 
years.
    I was fortunate to be Governor during eight good years. 
Started hard, and then it got better and better and better. But 
he's had to lead us through incredibly difficult, and he's done 
it with the heart and with great communication and a 
willingness just to be courageous and to provide the leadership 
by example that we so admire in our staff.
    Other than that, can you think of anything else good to 
say? That just scratches the surface.
    That just scratches the surface.
    But he's now our Governor. Serves us----we have only one 
representative, and that's now Lisa. But served as our 
Congressman for 6 years and did so extraordinarily.
    Go through the Wilmington train station.
    There's a great photograph of John Carney, Chris Coons, and 
I walking arm in arm down the platform of the train station, a 
shot taken of us from behind.
    And it's one of my all-time favorites.
    And what I will say to other, when I get off the train at 
the end of the day and we have people from other states, they 
say to me, we walk by the pictures, beautiful pictures, and say 
who are those three guys. And I tell them who. And they say 
John Carney, you're so lucky that he's your Governor. You know, 
we really are. We really are.
    John, welcome. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you 
for being a staunch advocate for coastal funding and for 
fighting to help keep our beaches and keep them some of the 
finest in the world.
    And you're recognized for your opening statement. Thank 
you.

           STATEMENT OF DELAWARE GOVERNOR JOHN CARNEY

    Governor Carney. Thank you very much, Senator Carper. I 
almost called you Governor Carper there. When somebody 
mentioned that earlier, I was ready to say you want to be 
Governor again, you can have it.
    Thanks for that introduction. It reminds me of something my 
brother-in-law says, which is the older we get, the better we 
used to be. I think in my case, people, it's been so long, 
people don't remember. So they can't verify the facts there.
    I've had a great example in leadership with you, Mr. 
Chairman. And I appreciate everything that you've done for me 
in my public service.
    Senator Carper. John Carney is oftentimes referred to as 
one of the two finest Governors we've ever had.
    Governor Carney. I'm really delighted to be here with 
Governor Edwards. We are colleagues in the National Governors 
Association.
    He's one of the most respected Governors in our country, 
for the reasons that you outlined and you can hear his command 
of the material in his opening statement. We certainly 
appreciate his service to our country. He's a graduate from the 
U.S. Military Academy at West Point and his service there.
    But he's been a great leader in a very difficult time for 
the State of Louisiana. I'm just delighted that he's here with 
us.
    I'm also happy to be here with so many of the elected 
officials that are our partners. You're going to hear from the 
mayor here at Slaughter Beach. I missed the tour yesterday. 
Apologize for that. But they are clearly partners in all this 
work.
    I couldn't recognize most of them because they had masks 
on, but I did see Mayor Becker across from me. And he's a great 
partner in Lewes.
    Last year, the Department of Natural Resources and 
Environmental Control launched Delaware's Climate Action Plan, 
Governor. We heard about Louisiana's Climate Action Plan. And I 
would recommend this to every Delawarean. It's got great 
information. It's really an easy read. It sets the technical 
standards right at the top.
    It was the result of a long process involving residents, 
businesses, and technical experts. Congresswoman, to your point 
about community engagement.
    This roadmap shows how Delaware can prepare for climate 
change and must prepare for climate change in the decades ahead 
by reducing two main objections. Reducing carbon emissions and 
focusing on coastal resilience, which is what this hearing is 
about and your legislation.
    In 2017, Delaware joined the US Climate Alliance with many 
other states and local governments, committing to reduce our 
carbon emissions by at least 26 percent by 2025 over 2005 
levels. We're not there yet, but we're making progress.
    Right now, the estimate is that we're between 18 and 19 
percent reduction. So we do have some work to do there.
    We're here today, though, to talk about the impacts of sea 
level rise caused by climate change. Delaware has already 
experienced over one foot of sea level rise at the Lewes tidal 
gauge since 1900. So over the last century, a foot of sea rise 
there in Lewes. By mid century, sea levels are projected to 
rise another nine to 23 inches. And by the next century, up to 
an additional five feet.
    This threatens our Atlantic beaches and bay communities, 
neighborhoods, businesses. And for the residents of those 
communities importantly, it threatens their way of life.
    Delaware, as has been mentioned, is our country's lowest 
lying State. Governor, you probably thought you were the lowest 
lying State.
    And I guess in some areas, you're below sea level best I 
could tell.
    Here in Sussex County, tourism employs 17,000 people and 
contributes $213 million in State and local taxes. These might 
not sound like big numbers to our friends in larger states, 
including in Louisiana, but those are big numbers for the State 
of Delaware, with just under a million residents.
    During COVID-19, we've made decisions with the 
understanding that you need to have a healthy community to have 
a healthy economy. You got to strike a balance there. It's also 
true that you need to have a healthy environment to have a 
health economy. One, in particular in this case, affects the 
other.
    To that end, we're grateful, extremely grateful for the 
investments in infrastructure that are coming to Delaware 
through the bipartisan infrastructure bill that both of you 
were part of passing, championed by you and by the president.
    And I know it achieves exactly what President Biden 
intended, which was a bipartisan piece of legislation that 
enables us to build back better. And I think those words hit 
the nail on the head when it comes to climate change, because 
these investments will give us the opportunity to build back 
better by embedding climate resiliency in all infrastructure 
projects and focus on reducing carbon emissions.
    This will help us meet those goals for carbon emission 
reductions by 2025, because it includes a $17 million 
investment, which is a big number in Delaware, to expand 
Delaware's electric vehicle charging network. And this is a 
critical investment as we move toward more, to electric vehicle 
transportation in our State. And it's critical to us meeting 
those carbon emissions.
    Congresswoman Blunt Rochester mentioned the idea of nature-
based features in resilience projects. And we know of one. We 
have an active one right now in Prime Hook Wildlife Refuge, 
which is a Federal-owned asset. And they've restored the dunes 
which were destroyed by a number of northeast storms over the 
last ten or more years.
    They have restored those dunes with the expectation that 
they will let Mother Nature runs its course in the years ahead, 
as opposed to continuing to restore the dunes on a kind of 
regular basis as the storms come through.
    You can see the effect there more dramatically I think than 
anywhere because the parking lot that used to be at the edge of 
the beach is now 20 yards out into the Bay. And that's really 
what the kinds of effects that we're talking about here in our 
State.
    The ocean and bay beaches are part of Delaware's history. 
The Delaware Bay was a lifeline and resource during the early 
Colonial period. It fueled transportation and a maritime 
economy that ultimately supported the foundation of our State.
    Today we are approaching a new normal under climate change. 
Storms, hurricanes, and other weather events are more 
prevalent. We're seeing so-called 100-year floods every few 
years instead of once in a lifetime it seems.
    When I took the oath of office to become Delaware's 74th 
Governor, I pledged not only to uphold our constitution, but 
to, and I quote, respect the right of future generations to 
share the rich historic and natural heritage of our State.
    Both of you have taken that pledge before. We live in a 
beautiful State. And we should take care to preserve that 
heritage as we pledged to do. That includes upholding the goals 
laid out in our Climate Action Plan, incorporating the action 
plan's objectives into the resources provided by the Federal 
bipartisan infrastructure bill. And we will do that.
    We can only do this by limiting carbon emissions. We need 
to expand clean and renewable energy, put in place energy 
efficiency measures, transition our transportation sector to 
zero emission vehicles, and reduce and manage greenhouse gases 
beyond carbon dioxide.
    We also need to prepare for the environmental challenges 
we're just now beginning to see. Resiliency efforts, like 
improving real time data collection of coastal flooding and 
providing training tools and technical assistance on climate 
change impacts may sound simple, but they're critical for us to 
be prepared and to act.
    Let me end by thanking both of you for your leadership for 
our great State. You, Senator Carper, for being a mentor, for 
your leadership of this committee, and for this piece of 
legislation that will help us as we attempt to implement
    Delaware's Action Plan and address the coastal resiliency 
issues that we'll need to address.
    Thanks very much.
    [The prepared statement of Governor Carney follows:]
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    Senator Carper. Thank you so much. And thank you. We have 
mentored each other. And I might say the same thing for our 
Congresswoman. And thanks for your extraordinary leadership, 
John, and for being with us today.
    We're going to hear from Mayor Lock, we're going to hear 
from Derek, and then I'm going to take a quick break, take a 
phone call, get an update on the Ukraine, and come right back. 
And while I'm doing that, I'm going to ask Lisa to preside for 
the beginning of the questioning of this panel.
    Mayor, 46 years ago, 46 years ago. I understand you and 
your mom and dad bought a place in Slaughter Beach. And still, 
you're not just still living there, still have a place there, 
but you're the mayor, you're the mayor.
    Have you ever been the vice mayor at Slaughter Beach? Have 
you ever been the vice mayor?

        STATEMENT OF SLAUGHTER BEACH MAYOR KATHLEEN LOCK

    Mayor Lock. I was.
    Senator Carper. How about secretary? How about treasurer? 
How about Council person at-large?
    All the seats. You've been through all of them. And you 
retired from the government consulting arena after enjoying a 
career specializing in large-scale Federal Government 
procurement and acquisition projects. You are amazing.
    And you're a great gift from your parents. And we're glad 
that they brought you here all those years ago and you stuck 
around and continue to provide wonderful leadership for not 
just Slaughter Beach, but for all of our beaches. Thank you.
    You're recognized.
    Mayor Lock. Thank you, Senator. And thank you, Chairman 
Carper and Congresswoman Blunt Rochester and esteemed members 
of this panel who are testifying with me today. It's an honor 
to be here.
    It was an honor to have been invited, and I can't tell you 
how happy I am to be representing small coastal towns as we 
confront the challenges of sea level rise and increasingly 
violent coastal storms.
    On behalf of the entire Delaware Bay communities, I would 
like to thank you for this opportunity.
    Let me tell you about Slaughter Beach quickly, if I might. 
Slaughter Beach is one of three incorporated towns on the 
Delaware Bay.
    Senator Carper. First of all, take 30seconds. Tell us why 
it's called Slaughter Beach.
    Everybody asks me that question. And I say call the mayor.
    Mayor Lock. There are so many reasons.
    Senator Carper. All right. We'll make that an addendum to 
your testimony.
    Mayor Lock. Some stories are much funnier than others.
    Senator Carper. Oh, good, good. Humor is everything.
    Mayor Lock. But the town consists of over 12,000 acres, 98 
percent of which are in conservation and owned by the Federal 
Government Department of Interior as part of Prime Hook 
National Wildlife Refuge or the State of Delaware, the Milford 
Net Conservation Area, or the Delaware Nature Society.
    We enjoy living next to an unspoiled and pristine saltwater 
marsh. And it is one of the last few saltwater marshes left in 
the United States.
    The residents of Slaughter Beach are stewards of over three 
miles of Delaware Bay shoreline, and we take our stewardship 
responsibilities very seriously.
    We are a horseshoe crab sanctuary and a certified wildlife 
habitat community.
    We maintain 20 access points to the Bay shore and welcome 
the public to our beaches.
    Our beaches are primary breeding ground for horseshoe crabs 
and are an important stop on the Atlantic flyway for migrating 
shorebirds, most especially the endangered red knot, a small 
bird that feeds on horseshoe crab eggs to fuel their annual 
migration from the furthest tip of South America to their 
Arctic breeding grounds.
    As mayor, I bring the perspective of a frontline community 
leader who lives with both the pleasures and threats of the 
sea. I've worked closely with the mayor of Bowers Beach, Ada 
Puzzo, and the mayor of Lewes, Ted Becker, who is here today.
    As we follow the progress of the U.S. Army
    Corps of Engineers' beneficial use of dredge material for 
the Delaware River Feasible Study, we were delighted by its 
inclusion in the Water Resources Development Act of 2020. And a 
special thanks goes to you, Senator Carper, and to you, 
Congresswoman Blunt Rochester, for your leadership and your 
support in making that happen for the Delaware Bay communities.
    I'd like to say that horseshoe crabs play a significant 
role in human health and wellness. I recently read about the 
critical role that the blood of horseshoe crabs played in the 
development of a COVID-19 vaccine. And there are countless 
other pharmaceutical breakthroughs that have been dependent on 
the blood of horseshoe crabs.
    And due to coastal storms, horseshoe crabs require sandy 
beaches to lay their eggs and breed. And due to the increasing 
prevalence of coastal storms, we are losing our sandy beaches 
and horseshoe crab breeding grounds at an alarming rate.
    We had a storm that we experienced on October 29th of this 
year. I do have some pictures? That I neglected to put up. But 
it shows the loss of breeding grounds, a habitat breeding 
grounds, and how every beach on the Delaware Bay was impacted 
and affected by this one relatively mild storm.
    Last year, the Town of Slaughter Beach, and I'm going to 
briefly touch on this because I believe it shows the importance 
of partnerships that we need to sustain to manage our coastal 
and preserve our coastal properties. Last year, the Town of 
Slaughter Beach invoiced approximately $90,000 in property 
taxes. That was it. And of that amount of money, 60,000 went to 
collect trash and recycling fees, leaving our entire operating 
budget, with the exception of what we get from grants, at 
$30,000 for our operating budget.
    I think it displays the need for the partnership that we 
have been trying desperately to build with Federal, State, 
county, and local officials.
    I'm very pleased, because of that, I'm very pleased with 
the provisions of the SHORRE Act and would, again, like to 
thank you, Congresswoman Blunt Rochester and Chairman Carper, 
for cosponsoring this bipartisan and bicameral bill and for 
your involvement and concern in Delaware's coastal towns, 
beaches, dunes, and wetlands. You are national leaders who 
truly understand the importance of our coastal communities and 
the vulnerabilities we endure as the global climate warms, 
weather becomes more erratic, and seas rise at unprecedented 
rates.
    This legislation envisions a better way for the Nation to 
prepare for future needs to address the problems that will only 
be exacerbated in the near future.
    We, on the coast, rely on our partnerships with county, 
State, and Federal Government officials to help us protect and 
sustain our communities. In Delaware, the Department of Natural 
Resources is an environmental control, is the non-Federal 
partner on Corps projects. In our experience, however, 
communication between the Corps, DNREC, and the communities in 
need of assistance is limited, at best.
    One exception to this is when Senator Carper's staff 
arranged for a Corps 101 meeting for local Delaware 
communities. That day, 3 years ago, now, was extremely 
informative. And had it not been for Senator Carper's staff's 
understanding and collaboration and information sharing that 
was desperately needed, I doubt Corps staff would have had the 
vision to coordinate the effort. And I suspect it will not 
happen again unless someone outside the Corps arranges it. This 
needs to change.
    I implore Corps and DNREC leadership to strengthen 
communication channels and see the world through the lens of 
local elected officials. We usually have little or no knowledge 
of how the Corps function or the regulatory constraints that it 
must operate under.
    And I'd like to note that frontline community leadership 
changes hands frequently. So annual outreach efforts to educate 
community leaders is a key component of cooperation and 
collaboration.
    The SHORRE Act is a valuable tool in clarifying the Corps' 
mission, modernizing the Corps, and streamlining Corps 
interaction with the communities it serves.
    I call out three specific inclusions in the SHORRE Act that 
I'm particularly happy about. First, the expansion of the 
Corps' existing river flood mitigation and restoration 
authority that will now include shoreline protection and 
restoration for the first time as a primary mission of the 
Corps.
    Second, the identification of Delaware Bay beaches as a 
priority area for implementation of projects under the amended 
authority.
    Finally, and perhaps the best news, section 15 modifies the 
Delaware Beneficial Use of Dredge Material Feasibility Study to 
permit the use of alternative borrow sources. This will 
significantly reduce the cost to nourish the Delaware Bay 
beaches.
    This section also includes a special rule that allows the 
Corps to provide emergency services to any of the bay beaches 
included in the beneficial use study under the existing 
continuing authority.
    These inclusions will result in increased opportunities to 
work with the Corps that we on the Delaware shore have not 
enjoyed in the past.
    Once again, thank you for providing me with the opportunity 
to speak on this very critical issue.
    [The prepared statement of Mayor Lock follows:]
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    Senator Carper. Mayor, thanks for your leadership in 
Slaughter Beach and thank you for extending that leadership 
well beyond Slaughter Beach and joining us today. Thanks so 
much.
    Next, Derek, Derek Brockbank.
    Mr. Brockbank is the executive director of the Coastal 
States Organization, which represents our nation's coastal 
states, territories, and commonwealth. Prior to that, he served 
as the executive director for the American Shore and Beach 
Preservation Association and as campaign director for a 
collision effort to restore the Mississippi River delta and 
coastal Louisiana.
    Mr. Brockbank, you're recognized for your statements. We're 
delighted that you have joined us. Thank you so much for 
coming.

   STATEMENT OF DEREK BROCKBANK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COASTAL 
                      STATES ORGANIZATION

    Mr. Brockbank. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman Carper, 
Representative Blunt Rochester.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of 
Coastal States Organization.
    I am honored to be on a panel of what I consider absolute 
coastal champions at multiple levels of government.
    Since 1970, CSO has served as the collective voice for the 
Nation's coastal states and territories on Federal policy 
issues. CSO members are Governor-appointed delegates who run or 
oversee State coastal zone management programs.
    Our State members work closely with the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers to plan, permit, and implement projects in the 
coastal zone, serving variously as partner, client, and 
occasionally State watchdog of the Corps. And on behalf of our 
members, CSO has worked and continues to work with the Corps to 
develop and advance policies to better manage resources in the 
coastal zone.
    The topic of today's coastal hearing is of utmost 
importance to every coastal manager in the country. Coastal 
managers are facing unprecedented challenges, both caused and 
exacerbated by climate change. But perhaps the most acute 
climate change impacts along the coast are in shoreline 
management and restoration.
    Along saltwater coasts, what we've heard a lot about today, 
rising seas and increasing storm intensity are expanding flood 
zones and will increasingly inundate low-lying coastal areas.
    But along freshwater great lakes coasts, lake levels are 
also fluctuating at unprecedented rates. This has led to 
increased pressure to restore our hardened shorelines on both 
saltwater and freshwater coasts.
    Although many communities are now beginning to look at what 
we call managed retreat, the ability to move infrastructure 
away from the water's edge, but the reality is that both are 
needed. We cannot just restore or retreat. We need to restore 
and retreat. Determining when and how to restore and when and 
where to retreat is at the heart of coastal resilience.
    Fortunately, coastal communities and Congress have made 
significant strides to address coastal resilience. In 
particular, the Infrastructure and Investment and Jobs Act, 
together with funding and other recent supplemental 
appropriations has provided states, the Corps, and other 
Federal agencies an incredible opportunity to restore and 
improve the resilience of the nation's shorelines.
    In the past few word is Congress has enacted strong 
policies for the Corps on coastal resilience and we've seen 
great improvement in the Corps' consideration of climate 
impacts.
    However, the Corps' willingness or ability to use natural 
infrastructure and focus on shoreline restoration across the 
country has not reached the level of importance it should given 
the magnitude of challenges from climate change.
    Therefore, CSO is very pleased to support the SHORRE Act, 
which significantly improves the Corps' ability to address 
coastal restoration and resilience by elevating shoreline and 
riverbank protection and restoration to a primary mission of 
the Corps.
    In many coastal regions, restoring a shoreline can serve 
many purposes in the community.
    Integrated beach, dune, and back bay wetland systems that 
use natural and nature-based features can help a community 
adapt to increasing flood risk, improve ecological value, and 
can provide economic stability.
    This balanced approach to shoreline restoration and 
management might not fit neatly into any of the Corps' current 
mission areas but is essential to a functioning and resilient 
coast in an era of climate change.
    CSO believes making shoreline restoration a primary mission 
of the Corps will help develop these multi-use projects.
    Additionally, the SHORRE Act gives local project sponsors 
increased flexibility to account for climate change in the 
design and construction of coastal projects and changes project 
funding structures to support coastal communities, with special 
consideration of economically disadvantaged communities.
    And while CSO strongly supports the SHORRE Act, we would 
encourage the committee to go to do even more to get the Corps 
to prepare coastal communities for climate effects, climate 
impacts, including planning on longer time horizons and 
reforming the Corps' benefit cost ratio process.
    The Corps should recognize that although there are 
projects, there are coastal projects that are often built for 
50-year authorizations, local sponsors' expectations are that 
these projects last significantly longer than 50 years. 
However, given a rapidly changing climate, coastal projects are 
facing vastly different considerations than when they were when 
they were originally authorized.
    The Corps should plan and develop transition pathways for 
existing projects that are reaching their expiration and 
develop coastal adaptation projects for 50 to 200-year 
projections for sea level rise and, if possible, lake level 
change.
    Finally, the current BCR analysis is keeping the Corps 
stuck in 20th century thinking.
    Thrilled to hear some of the progress that's being made, 
the testimony from Colonel Kelly about how that BCR is 
changing, but the reality of the coast is that it's multi-use.
    Resilient coastlines have ecological benefits, social 
cohesion benefits, public health benefits, even benefits of 
racial justice. The Corps should be developing and using a 
process to better quantify and incorporate the value of those 
benefits. And we know they are beginning to develop that 
process. But the sooner that can become used across the Corps, 
the better off our coastlines will be.
    Furthermore, the Corps' current BCR puts the Corps in a 
position of investing in areas of existing wealth. Congress has 
begun to direct the Corps to consider how to build resilient 
coastal infrastructure for economically disadvantaged 
communities, but this should go beyond pilot projects and 
reduce cost share for historically marginalized communities 
that have born the brunt of poor coastal planning and 
decisionmaking.
    The Corps needs to plan projects for a resilient and 
equitable future, not simply rebuild the coastlines of the past 
in ways that withstand climate impacts.
    However, reevaluating the Corps BCR must start with a long 
overdue implementation of the PRNG, as we heard from the 
previous panel. And until we see what the Corps is recommending 
to themselves for greater inclusion of benefits through the 
PRNG, it's hard to make specific recommendations for how 
Congress can direct the Corps.
    I appreciate this opportunity to testify on behalf of CSO 
before the committee on this critically important topic.
    Just to reiterate, Congress can make an important step by 
passing the SHORRE Act as part of (inaudible) 2022. We would 
also encourage Congress to consider other studies and policies 
that would help direct the Corps to improve the nation's 
coastal resilience to provide oversight and guidance to the 
Corps and improving the BCR and ensuring that project decisions 
are based on forward-thinking values that consider our future 
climate and principles of equity and justice.
    We look forward to working with the committee, all of 
Congress, and the Army Corps on these and other important 
coastal issues.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Brockbank follows:]
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    Senator Carper. Thank you for that. We look forward to 
continuing to work with you and the folks that you lead.
    I'm going to run to get a quick update on the Ukraine. I'll 
be back in just a few minutes.
    In the meantime, I leave it in very good hands. Our 
Congresswoman.
    Congresswoman Rochester. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    And thank you all for your thoughtful and thorough 
testimonies.
    I also want to reiterate what Mr. Brockbank said about you 
being coastal champions. I think your testimonies really showed 
that.
    And also thank you so much for the focus and inclusion on 
all communities across our country.
    My first question is for Governor Edwards.
    Again, thank you so much for joining us today.
    The Corps has multiple authorities that permit the agency 
to conduct community outreach and planning assistance that help 
communities better understand Corps projects and design their 
own.
    As the Governor of a State with significant rural and 
coastal populations, as well as major cities like New Orleans, 
how might the Corps provide better outreach to communities with 
diverse needs?
    And it leads right from your last testimony.
    Governor Edwards. Thank you very much for the question, 
Representative Blunt Rochester.
    And I think Derek did an excellent job of summarizing how 
important this is, because while we get attached to what we 
have and we want to maintain it, and that's very important, 
sometimes we have to go beyond what we've done in the past, 
especially in the area of equity, because it wouldn't be an 
equitable problem had we done it right the first time. And so I 
think this is really important.
    And what is going to have to happen I believe is, and the 
SHORRE Act helps to address this, the Corps is going to have to 
get off----continue to do its primary missions, flood control, 
aquatic ecosystem restoration, and navigation, but we have to 
elevate to an equal priority, put on par the mission of coastal 
restoration and ecosystem restoration. And then within that 
framework, make sure that we're doing so much of what the Biden 
administration is talking about with respect to equity, and it 
becomes a focus.
    And by the way, it can be hard to define and quantify, but 
that doesn't mean it's not important and that we shouldn't try 
and that we can't do better.
    And so that overall framework I think should permeate what 
the Corps does every day. And then it should guide the 
allocation of resources, which, even though we're going to be 
much more generous as a country with the Corps than we've ever 
been in the past, they will still be resource restrained. They 
won't be able to do everything, but at least they will have a 
focus and a mission that drives more investment in these 
communities that have been suffering for so long.
    Congresswoman Rochester. Thank you so much.
    And as you mentioned, I mean one of the core functions of 
this Corps Act is to include that fourth mission for the Corps 
of restoration and protection of our coastlines as well as our 
riverbanks.
    And I think, as you specifically kind of tying it back, 
when we--the reason why I think we have gotten the broad-based 
support is because we are looking at these things that 
intersect with different populations.
    As the mayor mentioned, Slaughter Beach for the Corps might 
seem like a very small population. And so it becomes 
disadvantaged in a way from maybe larger places.
    And so that's why this focus and looking at cost benefit in 
a different way is really important for this moment.
    Governor, I also wanted to ask, the Town of Grand Isle and 
its barrier island were severely damaged by Hurricane Zeta in 
the fall of 2020 and then again by Hurricane Ida, less than 1 
year later as you mentioned.
    Supplemental funds were provided to help repair the 
federally authorized coastal storm risk management project 
there.
    Given that climate change poses a compounding threat to 
communities like Grand Isle, should the Corps be authorized to 
rebuild coastal storm risk management projects to a more 
resilient and sustainable level when addressing post disaster 
repairs? Why or why not?
    I think I know the answer. Just asking.
    Governor Edwards. Yes, ma'am.
    Congresswoman Rochester. For the record.
    Governor Edwards. Yes, ma'am. For the record, the answer is 
yes, they obviously need to be able to do that.
    It really gets back to the build back better. If we know 
that the storms that we are currently experiencing are 
absolutely obliterating what we have built before, then 
continuing to rebuild to that standard is just foolish because 
it's not going to provide protection, it's not a use good of 
the funding.
    And I will tell you, I've been Governor for a little over 6 
years, I have made multiple trips to Grand Isle to look at 
those systems and to implore the Corps to do better and not 
just go back and redo what they've done.
    And I think they're thinking along these lines now for the 
first time. And it's a great leap for the folks down in Grand 
Isle as well. But still a lot of work to be done there.
    And Ida just slammed Grand Isle. We have people who are in 
their 80's, and they've been through hurricanes forever. This 
is, many of them, this is the first time they ever left the 
island for a hurricane. And when they came back, they saw 
devastation that they had never seen before.
    And so it's very important that we improve the protection 
system there and make that island more resilient. Yes, ma'am.
    Congresswoman Rochester. Thank you, thank you.
    And Madam Mayor, Mayor Lock, thank you for your leadership.
    In addition to the economic concerns, Beach is home, as you 
talked about, to a diverse ecosystem featuring a symbiotic 
relationship between one of the largest horseshoe populations 
in the world, which I understand from the vice mayor goes back 
before the dinosaurs. I mean people here are shaking their 
heads as well. And it relies on horseshoe crab eggs as a food 
source.
    How important is a healthy shoreline for the continued 
survival of the local horseshoe crab population, and by 
extension, the threatened red knot and other migratory birds?
    Mayor Lock. Well, certainly, Congresswoman, it is a 
critical component of the health and longevity and the 
continued sustainability of horseshoe crabs. They lay their 
eggs on sandy beaches.
    You were at Slaughter Beach yesterday. We were able to see 
some of them on our beaches. These are clumsy, it's a clumsy 
species that crawls ashore.
    Congresswoman Rochester. No offense.
    Mayor Lock. Yes. Please don't take offense.
    They're a slow moving, clumsy species. But they wouldn't be 
able to traverse a hardscape. A sandy beach is really what they 
need for their spawning.
    And as I tried to say, they are critical to the health and 
wellness of human life. I know the pharmaceutical companies, 
I've read articles, they're trying to find something that would 
replace the blood of horseshoe crabs. Haven't been totally 
successful at doing that.
    Congresswoman Rochester. Thank you so much.
    I also wanted to ask you, last year Slaughter Beach 
completed a study designed to evaluate management options for 
the persistent accumulation of a mix of seaweed and marsh 
vegetation caused in part by the sheltering effects of nearby 
Corps-constructed jetties.
    And again, yesterday I got a chance to see this on the 
tour, exactly how the impact of all the sand coming down, 
hitting the jetty, and what that would mean. And this debris is 
detrimental to the local horseshoe crab population.
    But we also know the jetty, all of this is important as 
well to our national security and our safety as well. So one of 
the solutions proposed by the authors of the study was to 
establish a pilot program for the beneficial use of the 
material in the construction and reinforcement of the dunes 
lining Slaughter Beach.
    Since the completion of the study, what steps have been 
taken to manage the organic debris and what lessons have you 
learned throughout the entire process?
    Mayor Lock. That's a great question.
    Actually, we have been in discussions with Delaware 
Department of Environmental Control on this issue of habitat 
restoration for horseshoe crabs and the red knot, the Division 
of Fish and Wildlife.
    And we've asked for their support as we go forward to apply 
for grants to help us remove this buildup that's caused by the 
jetty.
    But again, we're going to the State to look for a 
partnership and develop a partnership, when, in fact, it 
appears from the studies that this is caused by the 
deterioration of the jetty that was allowed to deteriorate in 
this century.
    So it's a multifaceted issue, a multifaceted problem. And 
we're looking--we're only at the stage where we're looking at 
grants from the partnership with the Delaware Estuary to help 
us repair the damage.
    Congresswoman Rochester. I want to also highlight that part 
of what this hearing is also showing is, again, the 
partnerships and the need for the partnerships.
    We actually have Secretary Sean Garvin behind the Governor. 
And I want to give him credit as well for the work that he is 
doing with the communities as well.
    My next question is for Mr. Brockbank.
    The Federal Government has sometimes struggled to provide 
coastal communities the assistance they need to address the 
effects of climate change. Fortunately, many coastal 
communities across the country have taken great strides to 
protect their shorelines despite that lack of Federal support.
    Absent support from the Federal government, how are coastal 
communities addressing the impacts of climate change? And as a 
follow-up, what more could the Federal Government do to amplify 
these efforts?
    And I know you said we're waiting to hear more from the 
Corps on some of the suggestions you could give us. But what 
are some of the lessons learned or the things that we should be 
amplifying from local communities?
    Mr. Brockbank. I was wondering if maybe the Governors could 
hold up their Climate Action Plans again because I think that's 
probably the best example of what the states are doing.
    Congresswoman Rochester. We're not saying anything that 
Delaware's plan is bigger than Louisiana.
    Governor Edwards. This is a summary.
    Congresswoman Rochester. Just saying, Governor Carney, 
again.
    Mr. Brockbank. I mean I think the planning efforts that are 
happening at states, huge credit to both Governors for pushing 
these through.
    But in Louisiana, they've been moving forward with a State 
Coastal Master Plan for 20 years now almost and have gone 
through multiple Republican and Democratic administrations, 
it's passed unanimously.
    So there's a tremendous amount of planning that's going on. 
States are increasingly investing their own funding.
    But I think one of the real challenges, we've often seen in 
big project implementation, you can do sort of small living 
shorelines, good beach projects, you know, small pocket beach 
projects, but those big programs have too often relied on 
disasters and the funding that comes after the disasters. 
Whether it's the BP oil spill, whether it's a hurricane.
    And so I think the states have been able to do this 
incredible planning work. But now we need, Congress and the 
Federal Government needs to put the pocketbook to the test and 
actually invest in these projects and actually invest ahead of 
time.
    It's been tremendous to see the infrastructure bill move 
forward, but that's a one-time down payment. There needs to be 
some consistent, regular funding so that the Governors and the 
Corps can actually plan their project out, farther out.
    Congresswoman Rochester. Excellent.
    And I'm going to ask Mayor Lock, and it kind of dovetails 
into that question, too, as was already mentioned, Delaware is 
the lowest lying State in the country. And I will say lowest 
mean.
    I always have to add that mean in there so that Florida and 
Louisiana don't come back at us and say no, we're lower, we're 
lower. But Delaware is and has experienced sea level rise 
greater than eight inches along its coast since 1960.
    On top of that, increasingly frequent and intense severe 
weather events, and as you called them, Mayor Lock, violent, 
violent coastal storms, including Hurricane Ida and the recent 
nor'easter, continue to damage our coastline.
    Can you talk about, again, how your community, how your 
town has dealt with sea level rise and climate change, how it's 
affected you, but also what kind of things you're doing at a 
local level to mitigate?
    And I know it's micro, and we've got macro.
    Mayor Lock. Again, an excellent question, Congresswoman.
    We have, at a local level, we've been frustrated a bit by 
what we view as communication barriers between the partners 
that we're looking toward to provide guidance to protect 
against sea level rise.
    I'll be honest with you, this is way above my pay grade.
    Congresswoman Rochester. Would you like me to take the 
question back?
    Mayor Lock. Please.
    Congresswoman Rochester. But again, this is a great dialog. 
And we're fortunate that we actually do have a Governor who has 
been a Congressman, has been a Governor, knows financial 
sector, and actually has a plan.
    And Governor Carney, if you could just share what you think 
are some of the challenges and opportunities of this moment.
    Governor Carney. Well, I think Mr. Brockbank has really hit 
the nail on the head, right. Up until this point, in my 
experience anyway, and we have folks behind me--and by the way, 
when I'm talking, I think Sean Garvin's lips are actually 
moving. He's got----
    Congresswoman Rochester. Hence the mask?
    Governor Carney. I think he's got Tony Pratt sitting next 
to him, who knows more about----has forgotten more about this 
than many of us know.
    So for so long, these restoration project shave been based 
on a diaster-driven kind of an approach. And that's how the 
money flows and it's based on cost benefit ratios that don't 
consider some of the things you and the mayor talked about and 
that are important parts of the calculation, whether there are 
environmental damages, whether you're comparing a town like 
Slaughter Beach to a town like Lewes, with Mayor Becker. 
They're very different in terms of size, in terms of property 
values, and all of that.
    So how do you, and I think the SHORRE Act attempts to do 
this, is how do you consider other factors in analyzing a go or 
no go or limitations around what the Corps would participate 
in.
    There's a project, an inland project that comes to mind in 
my experience called Glenville.
    And you may remember the community of Glenville, which was 
flooded out completely by one of the hurricanes probably 25 or 
more years ago. 1989 I think was the first big flood there.
    And it never quite made the cut with respect to the cost 
benefit analysis. Wasn't a high income community. And 
ultimately, this step, in part under Governor Carper's 
leadership, took the bull by the horns and provided resources, 
frankly, to purchase the properties, which were built in the 
flood plane in the first instance.
    And so those kinds of projects, projects like situations 
like what we saw and we're seeing right here in Slaughter 
Beach. How do you factor those in to a new way of proceeding on 
funding for these projects through the Corps?
    The problem is it's going to cost more money, right, 
because you're going to open up more eligible projects. And 
you're going to, I would assume, qualify other things that 
wouldn't currently qualify.
    The SHORRE Act is certainly a really big step forward in 
that approach.
    Congresswoman Rochester. Thank you.
    And I yield back to the chairman.
    Senator Carper. Thanks so much.
    I had asked my staff in Washington to give me an update 
just before we got to the end. So we can do a press 
availability if there's anything new that we need to know about 
what's going on in the Ukraine, we'd be prepared to respond to 
questions.
    Not to be alarmed. The situation is dire, serious. But 
nothing to be alarmed about further at this moment. So rest 
easy.
    The last couple of questions. And I'd like to direct my 
first question to our Governor.
    And Governor, as you know, Delaware is known for its 
pristine five-star beaches. We've been talking about them all 
day. And this is one of them. And a number of others are 
popular vacation spots for many people who live up and down the 
east coast. Actually people who live a long ways from here come 
here even outside the country.
    We know that coastal communities are vital to the United 
States economy at large, but I'm curious to hear about their 
importance at the state level as well.
    And my question is would you just take a moment and share 
with us a little bit about the importance of Delaware's 
coastline to our state's economy at large.
    Governor Carney. I'm thinking about quoting our president 
when he was vice president, but I won't. But it's a big deal. 
It really is a big deal.
    We talked about some of those numbers before. They're not 
numbers that approach the kind of numbers that Governor Edwards 
in a bigger state like his.
    But for our State, just look at the coast from here. We're 
almost at the southern border here with Maryland, the Mason 
Dixon line, all the way up the Atlantic ocean beaches. The 
tourism industry that includes this and tourism in other parts 
of our State is a multibillion dollar industry.
    Much of it is here in eastern Sussex County. You're talking 
about the property values of all these homes and communities. 
You're talking about smaller communities, like Slaughter Beach 
and the property values there.
    If you do a calculation about the assessed value of 
properties that are located within areas projected to be 
inundated by a meter and a half of sea level rise, you're 
talking about over a billion dollars of that. So the impact is 
critical.
    I think the question goes back to my answer to the last 
question, which is how do you factor in things other than 
economic value to give a green light to Corps-funded projects 
and locally funded projects.
    So it's critically important, and I think we have to find 
ways, but we have to find ways to factor in criteria other than 
those economic benefits into the analysis.
    Senator Carper. Thank you.
    Governor Edwards, if you don't mind just responding briefly 
to the same question. Just share with us for a moment the 
importance of Louisiana's coastal area to your state's economy. 
We know it's great.
    Governor Edwards. Yes, sir. And first of all, thank you 
very much for the question.
    We're very proud of our entire State, but coastal 
Louisiana, the coast isn't just important to our state's 
economy. I think it's incredibly important to the Nation's 
economy.
    Right around 45 percent of our population, 4.6 million 
people, live in coastal Louisiana. And as I mentioned before, 
there's tens of thousands of businesses there.
    We have the second highest landings in the nation of 
seafood, but the best tasting. Whether it's our oysters, our 
shrimp, our crabs, our fish, you name it.
    Five of the Nation's top 15 ports are in Louisiana, 
including the largest port by tonnage in the western 
hemisphere. Sixty percent of the nation's grain gets exported 
out of the Mississippi River. And we're deepening the river 
now. So that's soon going to be 70 percent of the nation's 
grain that gets exported will come through Louisiana.
    Ninety percent of all the support for oil and gas 
exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico is based out 
of Louisiana. And over half of the current L and G exports, 
which are increasingly important because of the Ukraine 
situation that you just mentioned if we're going to help our 
friends in Europe, they come from Louisiana. That's all along 
the coast. And it's not just traditional oil and gas.
    The coast of Louisiana is going to be extremely important 
as we transition to low carbon and no carbon alternatives. 
Whether it's wind energy in the Gulf, the solar farms that 
we're going to need to support the petrochemical industry, 
they're going to be looking at coastal Louisiana, too, because 
that's where the industry is.
    And so when it comes to carbon capture and sequestration, 
that's going to largely happen along the coast. Hydrogen 
production is going to happen along the coast in Louisiana.
    And one thing that's really important, and I didn't realize 
this until we actually had our Climate Initiatives Task Force 
and they educated me in so many ways, an acre of marsh will 
naturally sequester 80 times the carbon as an acre of forest.
    But we're losing that acreage. As we restore it, as we 
build it back, we're actually going to be sequestering more 
carbon.
    So for all of those reasons and many, many more, coastal 
Louisiana is extremely important for our economy but also to 
the Nation's economy and to the nation's future.
    Senator Carper. Thank you, sir.
    Let me ask a question, if I could, Governors, for 
everybody. And we'll just start, Derek, with you if we could.
    As I noted in my opening statement, 40 percent of our 
Nation's population, that's about 130 million people, live in 
our coastal counties.
    And if coastal counties in our entire country were 
considered as a Nation, we'd be like No. 3 in the world, right 
behind China and the U.S.
    Unfortunately, the Corps does not fully account for the 
protection of this population, industry, and wealth when 
formulating coastal protection projects, nor does the Corps 
account for the financial benefits of tourism and recreation 
that are often attached to these projects.
    My question of each of you, and Derek, we'll start with 
you, will each member of our panel please share with us how the 
Corps might better capture the economic importance of coastal 
communities when designing coastal protection projects?
    Mr. Brockbank. Thank you for the question. Really at the 
heart of what this hearing I think the economic value of 
recreation is a clear one. I think increasingly there's going 
to be a need to look at access.
    And I think I mentioned the racial justice, economic 
justice. I think considering how equitable the access to the 
coast is an exceedingly challenging thing to put into monetary 
metrics. But I think ensuring that the coast is the playground 
for America and not just the playground for the wealthy is a 
challenging thing and something I think the Corps need to think 
about.
    Senator Carper. Thank you.
    Mayor.
    Mayor Lock. Thank you, Senator. I think that most analyses 
that are done with cost benefit ratios capture the cost of 
projecting solely the potential losses against the potential 
cost. And that's how the ratio is derived. To me, it's a very 
narrow approach.
    And actually NOAA has become a leader in recommending and 
providing guidance to other Federal agencies that the cost 
benefit ratio should be modified and the approach to developing 
it should be modified to include ecosystems services.
    And that means the cost of--if we're looking at just 
projecting losses, include in that the cost of restoring 
wetlands, the cost of water and food, the cost of job losses, 
the cost--I mean there's a world of things that could be 
considered when we're looking at cost benefit ratios.
    And again, I believe that what the Corps does is a very 
narrow interpretation that should be expanded.
    Senator Carper. Thank you.
    Governor Carney, Governor Edwards, you want to add 
anything, please?
    Governor Carney. I would just add some environmental 
analyses as well as sustainability, in addition to recreation 
and to the effect on--and equity, which is a hard thing to 
measure.
    But you talk about somebody who owns a house here worth 
over a million dollars, somebody lives in a less affluent 
community, that house is the same protection for that family in 
each community, just valued considerably differently.
    And that doesn't factor in as well.
    And I think this climate change measure of sustainability 
and I think the reference to either shoreline restoration or 
managed retreat, what should it be, what should the standard 
be, that's a little bit different than eligibility, but I think 
it really affects approach.
    Prime Hook is I think a good example of that. I mentioned 
the Glenville project of years ago. Similarly, what is the 
sustainability of the solution and the design of the solution.
    Governor Edwards. Senator Carper, thank you for the 
question.
    Very quickly, I think all aspects of a coastal region's 
economic portfolio should be taken into consideration by the 
Corps in their cost benefit analysis.
    As Mr. Brockbank mentioned, our coastal areas should be 
playgrounds for all of America. And I'm not just talking about 
tourism. I talked about a lot of things in my previous answer.
    But tourism is usually important to all coastal states, but 
particularly to ours. We're known as the sportsman's paradise. 
We are a tremendous draw for fisherman, for hunters, for bird 
watchers, other outdoor enthusiasts.
    The greater New Orleans area is a magnet for international 
tourism. Next Tuesday is Mardi Gras. A fewer weeks after that, 
we will host the sixth NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. No other 
city has ever done that. And that's just some examples that 
come to mind right now.
    So all of that should be taken into consideration by the 
Corps so that they can drive their decisionmaking and their 
allocation of resources. And I think if they'll do that, then 
the importance of the coastal regions of our country will be 
more fully taken into consideration and drive those decisions.
    Senator Carper. All right. Thank you.
    I have two more questions. One I'm going to address to 
Governor Carney. And then the last question, if I could come 
back to you, Governor Edwards.
    Governor Carney, with respect to storm damage build-up, as 
you know better than almost anybody, the Corps can only provide 
emergency restoration assistance to nourish a beach when that 
beach has been damaged by a storm, other than ordinary nature, 
other than ordinary nature that prevents adequate functioning 
of the beach.
    Parts of Delaware's coastline have been damaged, as you 
know, by successive severe weather events, including 
hurricanes, including nor'easters, and other tidal and storm 
events.
    Though the damage from each of these individual events may 
not rise to the level of other than ordinary nature, 
collectively they have dramatically eroded and damaged parts of 
our coastline.
    My question, taken together, how have the successive and 
compound effects of severe weather events impacted Delaware's 
economy and the safety of the affected communities?
    Governor Carney. So we've talked a little about this before 
in terms of a different approach than just a disaster driven 
approach, where it's more of a management situation where 
you've got a series of increasingly less severe events, storm 
events. But taken together, they create really worse situations 
when you have the big event, if you will.
    And so we've seen that here in Delaware this past fall and 
winter. A series of small storms can be damaging as one big 
large storm, right. Ida in our State is a great example of that 
and the limit of its extent. If you think about the serious 
rain event happened over the line in Chester County, 
Pennsylvania, along the Brandywine, but the effect was 
downstream in a very small poor minority community on the edge 
of Wilmington.
    We've had a series of those kinds of events. And 
increasingly, we're going to see more of those.
    Again, in Lewes, Mayor Becker, according to a 2000 report, 
we could see between 50 and 135 high tide flooding events per 
year by 2050. In 2019, there was nine of such events. So the 
intensity and the frequency of these events is going to 
increase.
    And somehow, as we think about the future, we've got to 
start doing things differently than we've done them in the past 
because we have a new reality. And the new reality is climate 
change, it's sea rise.
    In our State, we're going to have to manage shoreline 
restoration, we're going to have to manage retreat, to use Mr. 
Brockbank's terms. And factoring those into the work of the 
Corps I think is going to be really critical to our ability to 
deliver for the people of our State and the communities here.
    Senator Carper. Thank you.
    Last question. Again, Governor Carney----
    Governor Edwards, let's come back to Governor Edwards. A 
short question.
    Would you please describe your state's experience working 
with the Corps on the matter of implementing coastal master 
plan projects to mitigate the impacts of Federal-authorized 
projects?
    Would you please describe your state's experience working 
with the Corps on this matter of implementing the coastal 
master plan projects and highlighting the legal or policy 
barriers you can to implementation?
    Governor Edwards. Yes, sir. Thank you very much. That, too, 
is a great question.
    First of all, we have a great partnership with the Corps of 
Engineers, and it's not perfect and so forth. But this is one 
area that's incredibly important to us because we believe that 
when you analyze mitigation opportunities, or when the Corps 
does that, they should look to scientifically backed plans to 
coastal restoration and protection like we have in Louisiana.
    And the Corps shouldn't always choose the cheapest option. 
We would want them to look at the option that's going to 
provide the most beneficial impact, the biggest restoration 
benefit, if you will. Especially if a non-Federal sponsor is 
going to be paying for it, like the State of Louisiana.
    Now, the State and the Corps have been collaborating 
closely on the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Risk Reduction 
Project, which, by the way, when it's built, it will protect 
the community that President Biden visited in the immediate 
aftermath of Hurricane Ida. It's a predominantly African 
American low income community, and it's going to benefit 
tremendously from this project.
    But in that document, the Corps is going to consider the 
Maurepas Swamp diversion that we are doing as mitigation for 
the west shore project.
    But we believe that internal policies currently existing in 
the Corps may well create obstacles that prevent them from 
adopting this common sense approach.
    And by the way, that's why, one of the reasons, we so much 
appreciate the SHORRE Act because you would be giving them 
direction to do the things that we believe just make good 
common sense.
    So I think that's an example of how the Corps can do 
better, how the SHORRE Act will drive them to do better, and 
then we will get the full benefit of the projects that we are 
doing that have a positive impact on the Federal investment by 
being able to use that credit toward our match obligations.
    Senator Carper. OK. Good. Thank you.
    Thank you, all.
    I was checking the mail. We got some mail at our house 
yesterday. I opened it up, we got something from Louisiana. And 
it was a photo and a card from Senator Bill Cassidy, who 
succeeded Mary Landrieu as a senator from Louisiana. It was a 
lovely picture of him and his wife and their three children.
    And on one side of it, there were some words in French, and 
I don't recall exactly what the words were in French, but the 
translations were let the good times roll.
    Governor Edwards. (Inaudible.)
    Senator Carper. Of course.
    Congresswoman Rochester. What he said.
    Senator Carper. I don't know that we're ready to let the 
good times roll here as we face this challenge of climate 
change and sea level rise.
    But I do know this: Ben Franklin, a long time ago, really 
nailed it in terms of advice for us today and for later 
generations. He once said we came to this country in different 
boats but we're in the same boat now and our boat is in danger 
of sinking.
    And we really did come here in different boats, literally 
and figuratively. And parts of our country are in danger of 
sinking. And the question is what do we do about it, what do we 
do about it.
    And one of the things we need to do, go back to the C's, I 
like to say C, to communicate to compromise to collaborate. And 
those are three things that we're endeavoring to do and we have 
to endeavor to do even more energetically to communicate, to 
compromise, to collaborate.
    We've had wonderful ongoing conversation with the Army 
Corps. We are really grateful to the?
    Army Corps for all they do for our State, not just for our 
economy, but for quality of life and the ability to live here 
and raise our families and welcome strangers from other places.
    But this hearing was designed to put a spotlight on the 
challenges we face and to say everything I do, I know I can do 
better. Everything I do, and I'll always thought this way. And 
I suspect if truth be known, we all feel that way.
    And how do we enable the Army Corps to do better at their 
job given the changes that we face on our coasts. How do we 
enable them to do a better job. How do we do this in a 
collaborative way, what are the roles of the states, what are 
the roles of the Federal Government, the Army Corps, in essence 
its citizens.
    It's not enough to empower the Army Corps.
    It's not enough just to change cost benefit analysis and 
the ability to work with those mechanisms.
    It's also really important for us to address the root 
causes of why the seas are rising. That's really critical.
    If all we do is the things we've talked about here today, 
we're still going to be in a world of hurt 10 years from now, 
20, 30, 40, 50 years, still be in a world of hurt.
    We've got to do both the walk and chew gum at the same 
time.
    And I think here in Delaware and Louisiana we're smart 
enough to do that. And I believe Democrats and Republicans 
across the country, Congress and this president especially, 
we're smart enough to do that and it just takes the willpower 
and the willingness to lead.
    The kind of leadership that I've seen demonstrated by both 
of you in the face of this pandemic, by the administration, by 
a lot of people, by National Guards, by all kinds of people 
during the course of this pandemic, that kind of leadership, we 
need that, not just for a couple of months or a year or two, 
but for decades, for decades.
    And if we do that, years from now, when people come here to 
Bethany Beach or other beaches in Delaware or up and down the 
coast, they may not know their French that well, but they'll be 
in a position to let the good times roll. And they'll look back 
and say well, bless those people who had a hand in this.
    Let me see. I have some housekeeping I just need to go 
through with respect to follow-up.
    But before I do that, we have got, let me just say this on 
the record, we need to continue to equip this agency, the Army 
Corps, with the tools it needs to amply protect our Nation's 
coast and make them more resilient to flooding, to erosion, and 
extreme weather. And my hope and prayer is that today's hearing 
will better inform our work in these areas.
    And now I just want to ask unanimous consent. I love asking 
unanimous consent at a hearing when I'm the only one there 
because I can only object to my own request. But now Lisa is 
here.
    Congresswoman Rochester. So moved.
    Senator Carper. But I'm going to ask unanimous consent to 
submit for the record reports and articles that relate to the 
impacts of climate change on our Nation's shoreline and coastal 
communities. These documents stress the severity of the climate 
crisis and emphasize the new realities as a Nation, that we 
face as a nation in coming decades.
    Is there an objection? Hearing none. Additionally, our 
senators and our colleagues will be allowed to submit questions 
to our guests, our witnesses for the record through the close 
of business on March 9th.
    We will compile those questions, we'll send them to our 
witnesses, and we'll ask our witnesses to reply, if you would, 
by March 23rd.
    And with that, I just want to say John King is sitting here 
to my left. John heads up our water team on the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works. He'll be largely writing, holding 
the pen if you will, as we write the Water Resources 
Development Act, which will hopefully include the SHORRE Act, 
and he does a great writing.
    Terrific energy. He's like a bull in a China shop, but 
every now and then you need a bull in a China shop, and he 
plays that role. He's here with me.
    The other members of our water team on EPW, just raise your 
hands. Thank you, all.
    Congresswoman Rochester. And acknowledge Alexandra.
    Senator Carper. Go ahead. Go ahead.
    Congresswoman Rochester. I just wanted to also acknowledge 
Alexandra Gallinin from our team in Washington, and we have 
other members like Andrew and Victoria in the back as well. But 
thank you so much, Senator, Mr. Chairman, for your leadership.
    Senator Carper. Kate Roar was here earlier. I don't know if 
Kate is still. Kate works for Senator Coons. Senator Coons 
sends his best. He is a senior member of the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee and is in Munich for an annual, actually 
more frequent than annual, security meetings in Munich. He's 
attending that on behalf, along with some of my colleagues, on 
behalf of our country.
    And I think that's it. It's been a good two and a half 
hours, a long time. But folks, there's not much more, many 
challenges and issues that are more important than what we're 
talking about here today. And we've got I think a better idea 
how to go forward and make sure that the good times continue to 
roll in the future. Thank you, all.
    With that, this hearing is adjourned. Thank you.
    [Whereupon, at 12:55 p.m. the Committee was adjourned.]