[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 200 (Wednesday, December 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7913-S7914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             STRENGTHENING COASTAL COMMUNITIES ACT OF 2018

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, today the Senate passed H.R. 5787, the 
Strengthening Coastal Communities Act of 2018, by unanimous consent. 
This legislation adds new acres to the Coastal Barrier Resources 
System, which Congress established through bipartisan legislation in 
1982.
  I yield to my distinguished colleague, the Senator from Delaware, 
ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I thank my distinguished colleague, the 
Senator from Wyoming, chairman of the Environment and Public Works 
Committee. The Coastal Barrier Resources

[[Page S7914]]

Act is an important, free-market conservation tool that does not 
regulate how people develop their land, but transfers the full cost of 
developing in risky, environmentally sensitive areas from taxpayers to 
the individual choosing to develop. The Coastal Barrier Resources 
System also provides much-needed habitat for our Nation's treasured 
wildlife, including federally threatened Red Knot birds in Delaware.
  H.R. 5787 adds approximately 18,000 acres along the Delaware, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida coasts to the Coastal Barrier 
Resources System, protecting these barrier islands, beaches, wetlands, 
and aquatic habitat from federally funded development.
  H.R. 5787 also corrects an error that placed part of Bethany Beach, 
in my great State of Delaware, within the Coastal Barrier Resources 
System. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service discovered this error during 
a Coastal Barrier Resources System digital mapping pilot project, which 
Congress directed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to undertake in 
2000.
  Digital mapping has enabled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to 
greatly improve mapping accuracy as the Service updates outdated maps 
and makes determinations about whether properties fall inside or 
outside the Coastal Barrier Resources System. However, as our 
colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives drafted H.R. 5787, 
concerns arose regarding the security and permanency of digital maps.
  To address these concerns, the U.S. House of Representatives included 
section 3 in H.R. 5787. However, this legislation is not intended to 
prevent the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from using various digital 
tools, digital data, and digital maps to help implement the Coastal 
Barrier Resources Act.
  I would ask if my distinguished colleague, the Senator from Wyoming, 
chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, could confirm 
my understanding about the use of digital maps under H.R. 5787?
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, the Senator from Delaware is correct 
about this use of digital maps. Under H.R. 5787, Congress does not 
intend to prevent the use of these tools or data to assist in the 
implementation of the Coastal Barrier Resources Act. Congress intends 
to ensure the integrity of the system maps and the rule of law. 
Congress intends that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service be permitted 
to continue to make determinations as to whether a location is inside 
or outside of the Coastal Barrier Resources System with the assistance 
of Geographic Information Systems and any digital boundary data that 
were used to create the Coastal Barrier Resources System maps.
  In cases where properties or project sites are located close to a 
system boundary, due to the scale of the official maps or age of the 
underlying base maps, the assistance of various digital tools and data 
may be needed in order to ensure that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service makes accurate determinations. Congress intends that those 
determinations are based on a printed, hard copy version of an 
applicable digital map.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I thank my colleague for his confirmation 
of my understanding. In conclusion, I also want to thank my colleague 
for working with me and all of our colleagues to enact this bipartisan 
legislation into law. During a time of frequent partisan gridlock, I am 
proud of the work of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and 
Public Works for shepherding agreement on many important issues, 
including this one.
  Thank you.

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