[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]


              Coastal, Zone Impacts
      of the Dockside Casino Industry:
    The Mississippi                     erience












    Proceedings of a Workshop in Biloxi, Mississippi
                     May 7-8. 1996
                                 Exp




                           . Coastal Zone Impacts
                 of the Dockside Casino Industry:
                        The Mississippi Experience


                                      Proceedings of a Workshop
                                       Held in Biloxi, Mississippi
                                                May 7-8,1996.




                                                      Compiled by

                                                     Mary S. Veal
                                                  Biloxi, Mississippi




                                                    Technical Editor


                                                  David D. Burrage
                                              Marine Resources Specialist
                                       Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service
                                              Sea Grant Advisory Service
                                        Coastal Research and Extension Center
                                                  Biloxi, Mississippi










          Published by the Office of Agricultural Communications, Division of Agriculture, Forestry, and
          Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Keith H. Remy, Senior Publications Editor Cover
          designed by George Taylor, Graphic Artist and Chief Illustrator






                                                       FOREWORD


              In 1995, NOAA:s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, Coastal Programs Division,
           announced the intention to address a comprehensive technical assistance initiative for Coastal Zone
           Management Programs, with the goal of transferring data from local or regional coastal experiences to
           the national arena. Priority focus areas were identified and ranked. First in priority was Cumulative and
           Secondary Impacts of Development, with a proposed strategy to assist states in developing procedures to
           assess, consider, and control the impacts of growth and development.
              Following a briefing on the initiative and concurrent announcement of the availability of Section 308
           funds targeted for the goal of "Furthering the National Dimension," Mississippi Coastal Zone
           Management (CZM) staff members began assessing the state's ability to support and advance the goals
           of the initiative through Section 308 funding. Ultimately, this assessment focused upon a first-year action
           project identified for the initiative - the establishment of a federal and state advisory group to discuss
           cumulative and secondary impact issues common to many coastal states and territories. Mississippi CZM
           staff reasoned that the burgeoning dockside gaming industry, which has the potential to affect all of the
           coastal zone states, fit this task quite well, and Mississippi's casino development experience could pro-
           vide valuable, transferrable guidance. Over the past 4 years, Mississippi has become uniquely qualified
           in dealing with dockside gaming impacts. Since March 1992, when voters approved legalized dockside
           gaming, an explosion of new development has occurred along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Regional and
           national attention has focused on Mississippi as it has rapidly grown to one of the top three gaming areas
           of the country and the premier area for dockside gaming.
              Through a special grant proposal, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Coastal Zone
           Management Program requested and received funds to sponsor and host a dockside gaming confer-
           ence/workshop in support of the OCRM/CPD Technical Assistance Initiative. The Environmental
           Protection Agency's Gulf of Mexico Program was invited to cosponsor the workshop, and Mississippi
           State University's Coastal Research and Extension Center served as facilitator. The workshop featured
           national, regional, and local expert panelists who presented a broad range of issues dealing with cumu-
           lative and secondary impacts that can arise from the siting of dockside gaming in a coastal community.
              This publication of the workshop proceedings expands the workshop results to a wide audience and
           fulfills the goal of realizing a national perspective on cumulative and secondary impacts from growth and
           development,






                                               ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


             Many collaborators contributed to the success of this conference. Financial assistance and logistical
           support were provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
           Administration through the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management and the Mississippi-
           Alabama Sea Grant Consortium; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the auspices of the
           Gulf of Mexico Program; the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Mississippi Cooperative
           Extension Service; and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.
             Gratitude is also expressed to the following agencies and individuals who participated in the confer-
           ence: . Mississippi State Senator Tommy Gollott; Mississippi Gaming Commission; Mississippi
           Department of Environmental Quality; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District; U.S.
           Environmental Protection Agency, Region IV; Mississippi Office of Secretary of State; Mississippi
           Casino Operators Association; University of New Orleans; City of Biloxi, Mississippi; Gulf Central
           Seafood, Inc.; Gulf Coast Association of Realtors; Mississippi Coast Crime Commission; Mississippi
           Council on Compulsive Gambling; Gulf Islands Conservancy; Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund; Harrison
           County, Mississippi Wastewater Management District; Brown and Mitchell, Inc.; Mississippi State
           Senator William G. Hewes, 111; and the University of Maine School of Law. The knowledge and exper-
           tise provided by these participants were invaluable.
             The mention of trade names or commercial products herein does not constitute an endorsement or rec-
           ommendation. Any errors of omission or commission are those of the editors.





                                                        TABLE OF CONTENTS


             FOREWORD       ...................................................................................


             ACKNOWLEDGMENTS             ..........................................................................                       v


             INRODUCTION: Mississippi Dockside Gaming Legislation         ..............................           .................      I


             SESSION 1: THE REGULATORY AND PERMITTING PROCESS                      ..........................................             3

                    The Gaming Commission Permit Review Process and Industry Enforcement          ..............................          3
                    Wetlands Permitting - Coastal Program Consistency Review        .........................................             5
                    The Water Quality Review Process in Mississippi     ..................................................                7
                    The COE Review Process       ....................................................................                     9
                    EPA's Role in Wetlands Permitting     ............................................................                 12
                    The Mississippi Public Trust Tidelands Lease Program      .............................................            13
                    Recommendations for Changes in Permitting Casinos in Mississippi CoastalWetlands        ......................     14


             SESSION 11. CUMULATIVE AND SECONDARY IMPACTS OF DOCKSIDE GAMING DEVELOPMENT                                      ........ 16


             Economic Impacts
                    Direct Effects of the Dockside Casino Industry on the Coastal Economy     ................................         16
                    The Impact of Casino Gambling in New Orleans       ..................................................              18
                    Economic Impacts From the Municipal Perspective       ................................................             21

             Social Impacts
                    Economic Dislocation of the Commercial Fishing Industry Social Impacts      ...............................        24
                    Response of the Mississippi Coast Housing Market and Property Values to Coastal Development Trends         ....... 25
                    Casinos & Crime: What the Statistics Reveal in Coastal Mississippi     ...................................         26
                    Coastal Hazards Mitigation    ..................................................................                   27
                    The Incidence and Social Costs of Gambling Addiction in Mississippi     ..................................         28

             Environmental Impacts And Demands On Infrastructure
                    Nonpoint Source Pollution Effects of Dockside Gaming      .............................................            30
                    Zoning and Land Use Changes in Environmentally Sensitive Areas: Citizen Concerns        ......................     33
                    Concerned Citizens to Protect the Isles and Point .....................      7**-*-*,-**             ............  34
                    Cumulative Impact Concerns      .................................................................                  35
                    Wastewater Treatment Infrastructure Expansion Requirements      ........................................           36
                    Engineering Solutions to Environmental Perturbations Associated with Dockside Casinos Development         ........ 37
                    Highway and Transportation Needs in Coastal Mississippi    .........................................              -38


             SESSION 111. DEVELOPING THE "BIG PICTURE PARADIGM"
                            - MOVING AWAY FROM INCREMENTAL MANAGEMENT                           ...............................        39

                    Methodologies and Mechanisms for Management of Cumulative Coastal Environmental Impacts            .............   39
                    The OCRM Role in Developing Cumulative and Secondary Impact Management Strategies             .................    46








                                                                         vii






              INTRODUCTION

                                      Mississippi Dockside Gaming Legislation

                                                    Mississippi State Senator Tommy Collott
                                                    District 5 - Harrison and Jackson Counties


                The gaming industry is relatively new to Mississippi. The          of Nevada was invited to Mississippi. He worked.with the
              first laws favorable to gaming were enacted in 1989. That            Mississippi Senate throughout the special session familiar-
              legislation allowed cruise vessels on the Mississippi Sound          izing the Senate with Nevada's gaming regulations. The
              to have gaming paraphernalia on board. Those vessels were            Mississippi Senate took advantage of Nevada's expertise in
              required to cruise 1,500 feet from the boundary of the               formulating legislation. Special care was taken to include
              Mississippi Sound. At that time, the vessels were, in inter-         provisions to discourage undesirable people from partici-
              national waters and gaming could begin. The boats circled            pating in Mississippi's gaming industry. Senator Miller's
              in the international waters while gaming occurred and then           expertise and Nevada's experience equipped the
              returned. Because the vessels were licensed by the state of          Mississippi Senate to propose and to pass effective gaming
              Mississippi, a problem occurred. There was no way to                 legislation. The next step was formulating the Gaming
              determine how much money the casinos were making in                  Commission through the Gaming Act. Mississippi deter-
              Mississippi and how much they were making in interna-                mined that three people, to be appointed by the Governor
              tional waters. Therefore, in 1990, legislation made provi-           and confirmed by the Senate, should constitute the Gaming
              sions for cruise vessels in the Mississippi Sound and river-         Commission.
              boats on the Mississippi River. Regulations provided for               A bonus of the gaming industry was the state's collection
              cruise vessels underway-making way (meaning that boats               of $33.6 million in fiscal year 1993. In 1994, the revenue
              could cruise in the Mississippi Sound and return to their            was $94.9 million. In 1995, the revenue climbed to $128
              ports with gaming on board during that time). Senators               million. The projection for fiscal year 1996 is $132 million.
              Gollott and Dearing introduced the legislation.                      Of that $132 million, $33 million will fund road construc-
                Representative Sonny Meredith, chairman of the Ways                tion and infrastructure in the counties that have gaming.
              and Means Committee, expressed concern over the under-               The Highway Department can issue $323 million in bonds.
              way-making way aspect of the bill. He believed that dock-            The $33 million annual revenue will apply to the retirement
              side gaming would be more advantageous to the state. He              of those bonds if and when they are issued. The bonds,
              feared that vessels entering the Arkansas side of the                however, have not been issued for the gaming counties. The
              Mississippi River might be confiscated with all the gaming           present revenues are funding the roads, setups, and any
              paraphernalia by the State of Arkansas. The Mississippi              other expenses of roadways in those counties. It is possible
              House of Representatives was convinced that underway-                that bonds will not have to be issued for the gaming coun-
              making way should be removed from the legislation. Both              ties because of the incoming revenues.
              bills returned to the Senate. The first bill on the docket was         The projected income for 1997 is $140 million, an
              the bill for the Mississippi cruise vessels on the Gulf Coast.       increase from $132 million in 1996. Of the increase, 25%
              A battle ensued. Jackson County wanted to ensure that con-           will fund road construction in the counties that have gam-
              struction of the vessels could take place in their county.           ing. In cities and municipalities where gaming exists, taxes
              However, the county wanted to be certain they would not be           on the casino earnings also contribute to the revenues. For
              affected by pollution as a result of sandblasting the vessels.       example, in the City of Biloxi, legislation provides for an
              The bill with that provision went into conference. The bill          additional 3.2% in local and private taxes. Of this, 20% is
              for the Coast, providing for underway-making way also                directed to education. Another 20% is allocated for law
              went into conference. The second bill from the House (the            enforcement. Revenues for the city of Gulfport are the
              Senate bill) had the underway-making way provision                   same.
              removed. This bill passed. Now the stage was set for dock-             The county receives from each vessel 20% of the 3.2%,
              side gaming on the Mississippi River. Both bills passed.             with 10% allocated to education and 10% allocated to pub-
                 In June of 1990, Governor Ray Mabus called the                    lic safety. Then, 40% of the 3.2% is directed to the City of
              Legislature into special session. In the special session, the        Biloxi for funding the infrastructure. All areas in
              Legislature enacted the Comprehensive Gaming                         Mississippi with gaming have similar allocations. In addi-
              Regulations Act. When the Senate was formulating the                 tion, tidelands funds have provided an allocation of more
              gaming regulations, Senator Hannon Miller was appointed              than $10 million. Tidelands funds provide for the infra-
              subcommittee chairman of the Gaming Act (the Senator                 structure pertaining to the seafood industry and to sports
              was opposed to gaming), The Assistant Attomey-General                fishing and marine-related activities. In the last 2 years,


                                                                              I







                more than $800,000 have been appropriated to build fishing            Naturally, tourism is flourishing and is expected to grow.
                banks throughout the three coastal counties as well as in           An international airport is projected to be located on the
                waters outside the State of Mississippi.                            Mississippi Gulf Coast in 15 years, bringing tourists from
                   Casinos have contributed to enlarging the coffers in             around the world. Those tourists can enjoy playing at the
                many ways. The Convention Center is Harrison County has             already established 30-plus golf courses within a radius of
                been expanded as a result of revenues from hotels and               50 miles. With the mild coastal climate, golfing is a year-
                motels. The year before the inception of gaming, the 3%             round pleasure. High-profile fishing also adds to the
                hotel and motel tax yielded a total of $700,000. The current        tourism scene. Completing the charm of Coastal
                yield of that revenue is $2.7 million. More hotels and              Mississippi is its rich history.
                motels are a direct result of the gaining industry. Recent            The effect of casinos on unemployment rates has been
                legislation allowed the Coast Coliseum and Convention               dramatic. Approximately 15,000 people work directly in
                Center to issue $10 million in bonds. One-third of the 3%           the gaming industry, Another 15,000 people are employed
                that the Coliseum and Convention Center presently                   in other casino-related businesses. Tunica County has seen
                receives, will fund a 70,000-square-foot addition to the            a tremendous impact. Before gaming, that county's unem-
                Center.                                                             ployment rate was between 23 and 25%. Currently, the rate
                  Coastal ports have also benefitted from the effects of            is less than 5%. In coastal Mississippi, the Harrison County
                gaming. Legislation this year was designed to increase the          unemployment rate dropped from 8.7% to 5.2%.
                bonded indebtedness of the Biloxi Port Commission from                All in all, gaming has exerted a positive effect on the
                $3 million to $ 10 million. The commission plans to build a         Mississippi Gulf Coast. With the expansion and building of
                marina behind or in front of the Imperial Palace Casino.            infrastructure, gaming interests can continue to locate here.
                The 240-slip marina will be funded by the lease from the            The saturation point with regard to casinos probably will
                Imperial Palace, with the lease paying for the bonded               not occur for another 10 years. Of the states involved in the
                indebtedness. The Port of Gulfport plans to double in size          gaming industry, it seems certain that Nevada and
                using monies coming from both gaming and the port itself.           Mississippi will be the two leaders.





































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               SECTION 1: THE REGULATORY AND PERMITTING PROCESS

                                      The Gaming Commission Permit Review
                                             Process and Industry Enforcement

                                                                       Gary McGee
                                                                 Chief of Investigations
                                                           Mississippi Gaming Commission

                 With the casino industry in Mississippi, a Gaming                  trol over and within the casinos. Examples of the subjects of
               Conitnission was important. Before October 1, 1993, the              investigation are owners, officers, surveillance directors,
               Mississippi Tax commission exercised temporary powers                and stockholders. Within the casinos, key employees are pit
               and duties of the Gaming Commission. The Gaming                      bosses, shift managers, directors, security directors, or slot
               Control Act -had been passed by a special session of the             technicians.
               Legislature in 1990. In April of 199 1, the Legislature appro-         The purpose of the Gaming Commission is to implement
               priated $300,000 for the overall operation of the Gaming             the Mississippi Gaming Control Act. The Commission pro-
               Commission, with 16 positions being authorized. Eleven               vides a process for licensing and regulating legalized dock-
               casinos opened and were licensed; eight manufacturers and            side gaming on the Mississippi River and any of its naviga-
               distributors of gaming products were licensed. After                 ble tributaries, and on the Gulf Coast south of the three
               October 1, 1993, the Gaming Commission was created as a              southernmost counties. A gaming license is deemed a
               separate entity. The Governor, with the consent of the               revokable privilege. The holder of the license has no vested
               Senate, appointed three nonsalaried commissioners                    rights in that license. The license is issued to the holder
               According to law, these commissioners are to meet on or              (corporation or partnership). The law authorizes the execu-
               after the fifteenth of each month. The Mississippi Gaming            tive director of the Gaming Commission to investigate
               Commission meets the first Thursday after the fifteenth of           applicants and licensees. The executive director then makes
               the month and on special occasions when a need arises.               a recommendation to the Commission on the suitability or
                 The Executive Director of the Gaming Commission in                 denial of the applicant. The recommendations may have
               Mississippi is Gen. Paul Harvey. Gen. Harvey has been an             conditions or limitations. After the director's recommenda-
               asset to gaming in Mississippi. The Commission operates              tion, the commissioners have the full and absolute power
               on an annual budget of $11 million. Approximately 136 of             and authority to approve or deny any application. The com-
               the 164 approved employee positions are filled. The                  missioners can limit, condition, restrict, revoke, or suspend
               Mississippi Gaming Commission licensed and opened 23                 any license or finding of suitability that it has issued. In
               casinos between October 1, 1993 and August 1, 1994, a                addition, commissioners can fine any licensed person for
               100% increase over the number licensed prior to October 1,           violations committed by the casino or its personnel. Along
               1993. In Mississippi, 29 casinos are now licensed and open;          with monitoring the casinos, the Commission also monitors
               and they employ 27,140 people. Casinos are subject to reli-          the manufacturers and distributors of gaming products,
               censure every 2 years.                                               making certain that they are in compliance with the Gaming
                 The Governor is at the apex of the organizational struc-           Control Act and its regulations.
               ture of the Gaming Commission. The three commissioners                 The legal geographic location for dockside gaming has
               are under the direction of the Governor, followed by the             been discussed often. That location is defined as "in the
               executive director and division directors. The executive             waters within the state of Mississippi, which lie adjacent to
               director of the Commission was authorized to create addi-            the State of Mississippi south of the three most southern
               tional divisions to implement the provisions of the Gaming           counties in the State of Mississippi." Recently, the
               Control Act. Consequently, Gen. Harvey created the fol-              Mississippi Supreme Court rendered two decisions, one
               lowing divisions: Compliance, MIS, Police, Intelligence,             related to a casino on a bayou and the other on a manmade
               Personnel, Administrative Training, Gaming Laboratory,               canal. The Court stated that any river, such as the Wolf,
               Industry Relations, Research, and Public Relations.                  Tchoutacabouffa, Pascagoula; any manmade canal; or other
                 The Enforcement Division and the Investigative Division            bays are illegal for casino sites. The Mississippi Supreme
               were established earlier by the Legislature. The                     Court ruled, however, that the Bay of St. Louis and the
               Enforcement Division sends its agents out on a day-to-day            Biloxi Back Bay are legal sites.
               basis ascertaining that all laws and regulations are being             The second legal location for dockside gaming is on the
               followed in the casinos. Members of the Investigative                Mississippi River or any of its navigable tributaries. Thus,
               Division investigate those people who have potential con-            dockside gaming is legal in the following nine counties in


                                                                               3








                Mississippi: Adams, Claiborne, Coahoma, Hancock,                        the site development plan, Following the presentation, the
                Harrison, Issaquena, Tunica, Washington, and Warren.                    public is provided time to comment on the proposal. After
                   A specific procedure must be followed in applying for a              the hearing on the proposed site, the executive director will
                gaming license in Mississippi.                                          offer a recommendation to the Commission, which will
                   First, the applicant must provide the Mississippi Gaming             then approve or disapprove the recommendation. The
                Commission with a written notice of intent. The informa-                Commission may request additional information.
                tion in the notice identifies the exact site, the exact location          The applicant is then subjected to in-depth background
                of the boat at the site, and related infrastructure plans. Maps         and financial investigation. Corporate investigations are
                and pictures must also be included. Approval or disapproval             also undertaken. Construction usually begins shortly after
                is given to publishing the notice of intent in a local news-            site approval.
                paper for 3 consecutive weeks. If approval is given to pub-               Following this process, a development plan consisting of
                lication, then gaming application and fingerprint cards are             vessel specifications and design, shore development plans,
                provided.                                                               infrastructure plans, and an operation/implementation time-
                   After the third week of publishing the notice of intent, the         table is submitted. Detailed descriptions of the games to be
                applicant submits a written request for a site assessment,              played are required. The executive director then makes a
                and this request is submitted to the executive director. The            recommendation for issuance or denial of a license. If the
                applicant files the application, a $5,000 application fee, and          license is approved by the Commission, the director moni-
                two sets of fingerprint cards. Upon receipt of the applica-             tors the implementation of the approved operation imple-
                tion, the executive director will notify the board of supervi-          mentation timetable and the licensee provides a monthly
                sors of the county of the proposed casino site along with the           status report to the Commission detailing the progress.
                mayor of that municipality, if applicable.                              Before final approval can be given, the Gaming
                   The Gaming Commission then conducts a hearing to                     Commission makes a final inspection of the vessel and
                determine whether to approve the proposed site and site                 reviews compliance with all federal, state, and local laws
                development plan for the casino. The hearing will consist of            and regulations and ordinances before giving final
                presentations by the applicant, which include the specific              approval.
                location of the property, the current use of any adjacent                 Gaming is an asset to Mississippi. Jobs created directly
                property, and the location of the nearest residential area,             by the casinos number 27,140. Throughout the state, 50,000
                church, or school. The complete site development plan                   additional jobs have been created as a result of the gaming
                should include all structures planned and the expected coin-            industry. Gross revenues generated from gaming were $122
                pletion date. Evidence is submitted that various agencies               million in 1992, $790 million in 1993, and $1.5 billion in
                (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Coast Guard, Mississippi                 1994. In 1995, revenues climbed to $1.7 billion. In January
                Department of Transportation, Mississippi Department of                 and February of this year (1996), gross revenues were $287
                Environmental Quality, Department of Marine Resources,                  million. The gaming revenues from casinos on the
                Board of Supervisors, Port and Harbor Commission, Levee                 Mississippi River continuously exceed revenues on the
                Board, Mayor's office, City and County Planning                         Mississippi Gulf Coast. The economic future of Mississippi
                Commission, and Preservation Commission) do not oppose                  is bright.
























                                                                                   4





                    Wetlands Permitting - Coastal Program Consistency Review

                                                                              Dave Ruple
                                                                          Chief of Wetlands
                                                        Mississippi Department of Marine Resources


                    The Mississippi Coastal Program is a joint state and fed-              additional marina space. In some cases, industrial spaces
                eral too] that has been approved by the State of Mississippi               are now taken up by dockside gaming activities. It is impor-
                and the U.S. Department of Commerce. This tool provides a                  tant to balance these pressures and seek ways to revise the
                mechanism by which the state manages its coastal resources                 Program to accommodate future industry.
                in the coastal zone of Mississippi. The coastal zone of                      Wetlands permitting begins with the submission of a per-
                Mississippi is defined by the three coastal counties: Jackson,             mit application to the Department. These permit          ' applica-
                Harrison, and Hancock. Glade Woods is the Executive                        tions cover a variety of regulated activities that are spelled
                Director of the Mississippi Department of Marine                           out in the Coastal Wetlands Protection Law and in the
                Resources, which administers the Mississippi Coastal                       Mississippi Coastal Program. Within the program and the
                Program.                                                                   law, certain activities and entities are exempted from need-
                    The program incorporates all the provisions of the                     ing to secure permits, although activities must comply with
                Coastal Wetlands Protection Law that were passed in 1973.                  provisions of the Mississippi Coastal Program. One of the
                In addition, the Coastal Program agencies include: the                     most important aspects of the program sometimes drawing
                Department of Marine Resources, the Department of                          fire, is the Coastal Wetlands Use Plan. This is a zoning of
                Environmental Quality, and the Department of Archives and                  the public waters of the state along the Coast, establishing
                History. The wetland permitting activities that accompany                  use districts allowing for certain activities in certain zones.
                most dockside gaming facilities on the Coast are covered by                In addition, a set of guidelines for regulated activities out-
                regulative activities that are described in the Coastal                    lines specific ways that certain regulated activities are to be
                Wetlands Protection Law of 1973 and the Mississippi                        conducted along the Coast. Furthermore, provisions for fed-
                Coastal Program. The Coastal Program was adopted by the                    eral consistency, (any federal action or activity in the
                state in 1980 as its coastal management policy.                            coastal zone, whether a license or permit or plan) call for
                    The public policy of wetlands protection (defined in the               compliance with enforceable policies of the Mississippi
                Coastal Wetlands Protection Law) serves as a foundation                    Coastal Program, The final permit decisions are determined
                and basis by which the Department manages the resources.                   by the Commission on Marine Resources when that body
                The guidelines and plans of the policy are described in the                considers recommendations on a project that is evaluated
                Mississippi Coastal Program. The Department seeks to bal-                  by the staff of the Department of Marine Resources.
                ance the preservation of coastal resources in their natural                Subsequently, the Department staff carries out the recom-
                states with the alteration of those resources for the public               mendations and the wishes of the Commission based on its
                benefit. In seeking a balance of development and environ-                  findings; this would be either a recommendation of denying
                mental protection, important goals of the Coastal Program                  a permit request or an approval for one.
                are protection of the environment, the enhancement of cer-                   The Wetlands Use Plan is a tool that has been utilized,
                tain resources for the public benefit, and economic develop-               not only for casino development along the Coast, but also
                ment of water-dependent industries along the Coast. When                   for overall development. It serves to set aside specific areas
                the program was initially developed, many sites along the                  for certain types of development. The predominant uses
                Coast were primarily reserved for those commercial and                     within the use plan are "C" zones, which are for commer-
                industrial activities that require waterfront locations for sit-           cial, recreational, marinas; "I" zones, which are for indus-
                ing.                                                                       trial, commercial, and manufacturing water-dependent
                    The advent of gaming has affected this program, and                    activities; "S" zones, which are for areas that are leased by
                attempts have been made over the past 4 years to accommo-                  the Secretary of State's office; and "P" districts, which are
                date a degree of gaming development while keeping in mind                  preservation areas. Over the past 4 years, the Department
                the other developmental needs of waterfront sites on the                   has attempted to utilize the provisions of the Use Plan and
                Coast. The passing of the gaming legislation created a new                 the entire Coastal Program in managing the state's
                water-dependent industry on the Coast, so the Department                   resources and in trying to accommodate an orderly devel-
                adapted the program to accommodate this industry. Now the                  opment along the Coast.
                Department has permitted 18 casino sites on the Coast. The                   One very important aspect of the Mississippi Coastal
                permitting of those casino sites in some marina-designated                 Program and coastal programs in general across the nation
                areas and industrial areas has created an added pressure for               are the provisions for federal consistency. The provisions




                                                                                      5








               cause a joint effort whereby all federal actions in a coastal       relative rate at which some of the dredge spoil areas are
               zone have to comply with all of the provisions of the               being utilized. One of the concerns of casinos is the best
               approved state and federal coastal management program.              way to accommodate maintenance dredging activities after
                  The Department of Marine Resources staff that deals              the casino barges are in place. There is no evaluation of
               with casino and other permitting activities has decreased           wastewater treatment. In addition, the displacement of
               from five to three members. Since the Commission deals              some of the traditional uses in the coastal zone by the casi-
               with all of the other development and related regulated             no industry is an important consideration. The issues of
               activities that occur along the Coast the decrease in mem-          storm water runoff, drainage, and drainage patterns within
               bers has caused pressure. In 1992, approximately 400                all the cities along the Coast are matters of concern. The
               actions relating to wetland permits, violations, or wetland         increaged development alon2 the Coast, with subdivisions
               determinations were taken by the staff. Last year, that num-        and the filling of some nontidal wetlands, affects drainage
               her approached approximately 650. Obviously, the work-              patterns.
               load has increased dramatically with the increased develop-            Accommodating this new waterfront industry presents a
               ment along the Coast. When evaluating wetland permits, it           challenge. However, the tools are in place to achieve a bal-
               is important to look at secondary and cumulative impacts of         ance between environmental and public purpose wetlands
               the dockside casino industry on the Coast. Some areas of            protection that is defined in the Coastal Wetlands
               particular concern are the dredging that is proposed and the        Protection Law.













































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                                                                                                                    0    0    0      0
                                The Water Quality Review Process in Mississippi

                                                                        Robert Seyfarth
                                                   Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
                                                                  Office of Pollution Control


                  The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality is               patterns or water movement that may create some water
                the state agency that regulates the environmental require-             quality problems, such as stagnant situations? In particular
                ments of the Federal Clean Water Act and the Clean Air                 for casinos, the agency conducts an evaluation of the basin
                Act. Three agencies are within the Department of                       in which the vessel may be sitting looking for any water
                Environmental Quality. The Office of Geology regulates                 quality problems related to the design. Will an alteration to
                mining. The Office of Land and Water Resources issues                  the natural ecosystem occur that will cause problems? Is the
                permits for water usage, (surface and ground water usage),             project consistent with any adopted water quality manage-
                and the dam safety program. The third agency is Office of              ment plans that are in place? For example, across the state,
                Pollution Control, which is comprised of a number of divi-             numerous wastewater plans have been developed that con-
                sions. These divisions address matters like air pollution,             template regional wastewater systems. Consistency with
                solid and hazardous waste, ground water, surface water                 those plans is important. Another area of concern and
                (which includes issuance of permits), and issuance of dis-             importance is storm water management. Because casino
                charge permits for municipalities and industries.                      projects propose large paved areas for parking and other
                  The Water Quality Management Branch handles the                      impervious type surfaces like roofs, storm water becomes a
                development of the state's water quality criteria for surface          significant issue. In addition, the regulations allow the
                waters and water classifications and is responsible for the            Department to evaluate other factors necessary to protect
                state's nonpoint source pollution program. This agency has             water quality.
                worked closely with the Department of Marine Resources                    Many factors influence permit denial. Regulations speci-
                on the Coastal Nonpoint Source Program that evolved                    fy factors that may trigger denial of water quality certifica-
                through the Coastal Zone Management Act. The Federal                   tion. Denial of water quality certification is significant
                Clean Water Act requires states to conduct a water quality             because the federal agency (in this case the Corps of
                certification program. The Act also requires states to certi-          Engineers) cannot issue a federal permit. As a result, the
                fy that federally-permitted activities, which may result in a          project cannot be built. One instance that might trigger
                discharge into waters of the state, will comply with applic-           denial would be a project's altering of the ecosystem.
                able discharge limitations, water quality standards, and               Another example is waters not supporting designated uses,
                other requirements.                                                    or a feasible alternative existing that the applicant could use
                  Over the years, the agency has gradually developed a                 that would reduce impacts to water quality. Furthermore,
                process of reviewing projects. The type of federal permit              denial could occur if a project were to have adverse impacts
                that is most frequently dealt with is the dredge-and-fill per-         to rare, threatened, or endangered species or to any habitat
                mit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.                        or outstanding resource waters. Likewise, if the project
                Regulations in the Department clearly define the review                caused adverse cumulative impacts, or if the project did not
                process. A number of things are considered in the review,              adequately address the nonpoint source runoff during con-
                  First, the agency looks for feasible alternatives to what is         struction or storm water management, a permit would be in
                being proposed. Although all projects are reviewed in a like           jeopardy. The project not receiving required wastewater
                manner, the agency does determine if an alternate location             permits would certainly trigger denial. Finally, denial
                is feasible. Perhaps things can be done to minimize the                would occur if the project would cause significant environ-
                impacts of the project, with particular regard to the footprint        mental impacts.
                that may impact wetlands or waters. After that determina-                 For casino projects, several things have been particularly
                tion is complete, other effects are analyzed to attempt to             important in the review for water quality. First is the avoid-
                determine what can be done to mitigate those impacts.                  ance of wetlands. At this point, only about 0.3-acre of wet-
                Likewise, the agency evaluates the direct impacts of the               lands has been filled along the Gulf Coast. The small figure
                project (the effects of the construction of a project) and             is a result of the diligence of the state and federal regulation
                attempts to determine the secondary impacts of the project             agencies in avoiding development in wetlands. However,
                in terms of the water quality standards or classified uses.            most of the easy sites have been developed. The avoidance
                  Next, compliance with the water quality standards and                of wetlands will become a more critical issue as more pro-
                classifications is analyzed. Also, the agency determines the           jects are initiated.
                degree of physical, chemical, and biological impacts of the               Another area of concern is wastewater treatment.
                project. Are there going to be any impacts to circulation              Because very large developments with land-based features


                                                                                  7








               (such as hotels) are being built and planned, the agency              for the facility to be built. Eventually the industry operates.
               must ascertain that the capacity to treat the wastewater              However, the casino industry is on a different timetable.
               exists. It also must ensure that the development does not             The construction takes place 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
               affect water quality standards. Finally, the impacts of               Construction is completed quickly. The speed of construc-
               dredging and disposal of dredge material are concerns                 tion has created difficulties for the agency in checking and
               applicable particularly to casino projects.                           verifying the conditions of certifications.
                  Casino development has affected the workload of the                   Because of the increase in workload, the Legislature has
               agency employees. Two full-time workers review these                  been very kind to the agency this session. The legislators
               projects, and until the advent of gaming, two employees               approved an increase in the number of positions in the
               could review all Section 404 projects statewide. These very           agency, particularly in the area of monitoring Mississippi
               large casino projects are on fast schedules. When very large          waters. Efforts to accelerate the monitoring process should
               industries locate in Mississippi and undergo a permitting             lead to better water quality in the coastal community.
               and a review process, it generally takes months and months







































                                                                                 8






                                                        The COE Review Process

                                                                     Ronald A. Krizman
                                                                       Regulatory Branch
                                                    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District


                  The U.S. Army is indirectly involved in gaming permit-              waters of the United States include not only those naviga-
                ting in the State of Mississippi. In the early days of the            ble waters, but also the tributaries, sloughs, and even wet-
                country, the Corps was the federal agency that surveyed and           lands that may be found behind one's home. These wet-
                mapped navigable waters of the United States. Later, the              lands fall within the jurisdiction of Section 404 of the Clean
                Corps began maintaining navigable waters and even built               Water Act. Therefore, casino builders who locate in coastal
                them. In the late 1800's, Congress passed a law that                  Mississippi need not only a Section 10 permit for locating a
                required that anyone doing work in navigable waters in the            casino that floats on navigable waters but, also a Section
                United States, must first have a Department of the Army               404 permit for some of the amenities (parking lots, hotels,
                permit issued by the Corps of Engineers. As a result, the             golf courses, etc.) that may impact other "waters of the
                Army became involved in its first regulatory mission. Then,           United States," including wetlands. Presently, wetlands are
                when the National Environmental Policy Act of 1968 and                probably one of the most controversial aspects of the whole
                the Clean Water Act of 1970 came into being, the Corps'               Corps permitting program.
                mission in the regulatory arena was increased.                           A particular soil, the hydrology keeping the soil wet, and
                  Today, the Corps' activities are really fourfold. One               vegetation growing in the wet soil are the criteria for wet-
                activity is the evaluation of the Department of the Army              lands. These kinds of areas are considered jurisdictional
                permit applications. Another is the making of decisions on            wetlands of which a Corps permit would be required either
                those particular permits. The third is the investigation and          to fill or excavate.
                resolution of any violations of several laws, sections of                The first of the three criteria is vegetation. If the vegeta-
                which the Corps administers. The fourth activity is making            tion includes plants that would typically grow in a wet soil
                wetlands and navigability determinations.                             and these are the predominant vegetation, the criterion is
                  The Mobile District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers             met for that category. Cypress trees and lizard tail vegeta-
                is one of 30-plus districts spread throughout the United              tion typically grow in wetlands. Another typical wetlands
                States and overseas. In every way, the Mobile District is             site contains pitcher plant bogs, mulberry bushes, and pines.
                one of the largest of the Corps' districts. The regulatory               Another factor in determining wetland jurisdiction is
                boundary within the Mobile District encompasses the State             whether the soil is a hydric one; that is, are the spaces
                of Alabama south of the Tennessee River watershed, as                 between the soil particles typically filled with water as
                well as the eastern one-third of the State of Mississippi,            opposed to air. If the soil develops anaerobic conditions,
                including 98% of its coastal area. Any casino industry that           then the second criterion to consider the area a jurisdiction-
                comes into the coastal area of Mississippi has to apply to            al wetland is fulfilled. The Natural Resource Conservation
                the Corps of Engineers for a permit. The casinos that are             Service, formerly called the Soil Conservation Service,
                operating or locating on the Mississippi River in navigable           publishes soil maps that delineate the various types of soil
                waters will be working with either the Memphis or the                 found within an area. The soils are delineated in those maps
                Vicksburg Districts. Section 10 of the River and Harbor               as hydric or not. Therefore, looking at soil maps published
                Control Act of 1899 is one of the basic laws that the Corps           by the Natural Conservation Service often determines
                administers. Any work in, over, or under a navigable water            whether a site is likely or not likely to be wetland.
                dictates a Corps permit. Some types of work that normally                The third and most difficult factor to determine is the
                occur in the navigable waters and require a permit are:               hydrology. Hydrology keeps the soil wet and the wetland
                dredging, bulkheading, and building piers.                            plants thriving. There are some definitions or some criteria
                  The Corps becomes involved in areas outside of naviga-              used to determine whether the hydrology is met. However,
                ble waters because of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.             hydrology determination is somewhat of an inexact science
                The Corps is responsible for the permitting through Section           because it is viewed as a spot-in-time as opposed to an over-
                404 of that same act, which states that any dredging or fill-         all year-round look at any particular site. If the three crite-
                ing of waters in the United States requires a Department of           ria are met, the Corps designates the area to be a jurisdic-
                the Army permit issued by the Corps. The term "waters in              tional wetland, and any development must be accompanied
                the United States" is a more encompassing term than "nav-             by a Corps permit.
                igable waters." Navigable waters are those associated with               There are 36 various "Nationwide Permits." The permits
                interstate commerce. The Mississippi Sound and the                    relate to any work performed within a wetland area that
                Mississippi River are considered navigable waters. The                individually or cumulatively has a very insignificant


                                                                                 9







                impact. Those Nationwide Permits are issued by the Chief               mental assessment (EA) is developed to determine exactly
                Engineer's Office, in Washington, DC, and typically are                what the environmental impacts of that particular project
                valid throughout the United States. Many of them are aids              will be. If there are significant environmental impacts, an
                to navigation and fish and wildlife activities. It is not              environmental impact statement (EIS) would be made
                always necessary to apply to the Corps for permission to               before a permit decision occurred. Finalizing an EIS is a
                pse these permits. For example, the placement of a crab trap           lengthy procedure. The formality of holding meetings and
                or crab pot in navigable waters is a structure within naviga-          public hearings takes time. Finally, when a decision is made
                ble waters being used for a purpose. Therefore, one of the             by the District Engineer, the EPA (which has the federal
                Nationwide Permits covers that kind of activity to prevent             oversight for the Clean Water Act) has the authority to veto
                the Corps from being inundated by permits for crab traps.              the Corps' decision. A veto seldom occurs. In fact, in the
                When a road project involves a road crossing (and less than            last 18 years since the Clean Water Act and the Corps
                200 linear feet of road would cut across a wetland) a                  became involved in that Act, only one instance in the
                Nationwide Permit would apply. Thirteen of these 36 per-               Mobile District involved the EPA vetoing a permit decision
                mits-actually 14 of 37 now-require advance notification.               by the Mobile District Engineer.
                The Corps must be informed of the intent to use these 14                 Another law administered by the Corps is Section 103 of
                particular Nationwide Permits. The Corps is allotted 30 cal-           the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act of
                endar days to inform the applicant whether the project                 1972, which is often termed the "Ocean Dumping Act." If
                meets the criteria of the Nationwide Permit program. Those             a dredging project does not have a place for disposing mate-
                Nationwide Permits can be used for both Section 10 and                 rial except in federal waters, a Corps permit is needed for
                Section 404.                                                           the transportation of the material from state or state waters
                  Another type of permit is the "Regional Permit." These               into the federal ocean waters.
                are for projects that have more impact than projects covered             Some changes in Corps permitting have occurred recent-
                by Nationwide Permits. For example, there is a Regional                ly. The number of Nationwide Permits has increased in the
                Permit covering up to 2,500 cubic yards of dredging, as                last 2 years. Existing Nationwide Permits expire next
                long as the dredged material is placed at an upland site. In           January. The Chief of Engineers office in Washington will
                that case, a "General Permit" or "Regional Permit" can be              publish new Nationwide Permits before the existing ones
                used. In Mississippi, a working agreement with the                     expire. Furthermore, additional new Nationwide Permits
                Mississippi Department of Marine Resources allows the                  will be published at the same time. Excavation of "waters of
                issuance of these permits in the name of the Corps. A one-             the United States" requires a permit today. Until 3 years
                stop permitting process occurs by the applicant going to the           ago, a wetland could be excavated digging 50 feet deep, and
                Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. These per-                 a Corps permit would not be needed if the material was not
                mits are for minor impact projects, either in navigable                allowed to fall back into the existing wetlands. As a result
                waters or in wetlands. The timeframe for issuing these per-            of a Department of the Army settlement of a lawsuit, regu-
                mits is 10 to 14 days.                                                 lation of excavation was begun. Thus, a Section 404 permit
                  Another type of permit is called the "Letter of Permission           is required not only to fill wetlands, but also to excavate
                Permit" used when a navigable water only is involved. An               wetlands. Regulation of pilings has changed in the last 2 or
                example is a commercial pier or something similar that                 3 years. In the past, pilings outside navigable waters were
                would impact only other navigational users. Issuing those              not regulated by the Corps. Now, however, pilings can be
                types of permits is coordinated with the various state and             regulated. Because people went to extreme lengths trying to
                federal agencies, as well as with the users of the navigable           avoid needing a Corps permit, parking lots were being built
                water in the area. Issuing a Letter of Permission takes frorn          on pilings. The Corps now regulates structures built on pil-
                2 weeks to a month.                                                    ings that would normally have been placed on fill material.
                  The larger permit and the most controversial one is the                The Clinton Administration has been responsible for a
                "Individual Permit." The Mobile District has a policy stat-            number of regulatory initiatives. While Mr. Bush was pres-
                ing that any new casino siting will initially be evaluated as          ident, a "no net loss" goal for wetlands existed. While
                an Individual Permit. These large projects can cause big               President Clinton has a no net loss goal, he has added an
                impacts. Individual Permits must be published with a 30-               additional goal: "higher quality wetlands." There is an
                day public notice explaining the proposal. Federal and state           Administration goal to expect a permit decision within 90
                agencies, as well as the general public interested in any of           days unless certain conditions arise. Exceptions might be:
                the resources, comment on the particular public notice rec-            endangered species issues, resource problems, or the need
                ommending either denial, modifications, or expressing con-             for an EIS. Otherwise, the President's goal is a 90-day per-
                cerns.                                                                 mit decision. Today, the number of days spent on a typical
                  Public hearings are possible depending upon which                    permit is probably about 118 to 120 overall. That figure
                issues arise during the public comment period. If the                  should be reduced to 90 days. Currently, the only appeal
                District Engineer feels that a public hearing is needed to             from a Corps District Engineer's decision is through a fed-
                better answer concerns, a hearing is planned. An environ-              eral court. President Clinton will be establishing an appeal


                                                                                 10







                procedure for two things: a permit denial from the party              istration declared that all federal agencies will use the same
                who was denied the permit, and wetland jurisdiction deter-            (Corps) wetland criteria. As a result, some of the controver-
                minations. Today when engineers perform a wetlands iden-              sy has dissipated.
                tification on someone's property and state that it is jurisdic-          Finally, the Clinton Administration has proposed and
                tional wetland, a permit is needed to impact those wetlands.          encouraged the use of mitigation banking. After trying to
                Right now, the only way to avoid that decision is to appeal           avoid and minimize impacts to wetlands, the next step is
                to federal court. However, under the new appeal procedure             compensating for those wetland impacts to meet the goal of
                it will be appealed to the Corps District.                            no net loss. That compensation is called "mitigation bank-
                  Flexibility in permit decisions is helpful to the Corps.            ing" and it is something that the Mississippi coastal coun-
                Not all wetlands are created equal. A low-quality wetland             ties are looking forward to, to prevent tiny mitigation sites
                does not require spending much time determining whether               that will probably have little chance of succeeding.
                there are alternatives to impacting those low-quality wet-            However, a large area of wetland creation or wetland
                lands. Weiland criteria in the past have been the basis for           improvement used for mitigation would assist the pen-nit-
                controversy, especially in the early 1990's. Different feder-         ling agencies and the recipient of the permit.
                al agencies had various definitions of a wetland. The Corps             The goals of the Corps' regulatory program are to protect
                is the federal agency that delineates wetlands. At times, the         the waters in the United States and to provide for clearly
                EPA and Fish and Wildlife Departments did not agree with              definable development making fair, reasonable, and timely
                the Corps because they had their own criteria for determin-           permit decisions.
                ing a wetland. Therefore, in 1993, the Clinton Admin-






                                               EPA's Role in Wetlands Permitting

                                                                           Mike Wylie
                                                  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IV


                  Rapid development in coastal Mississippi has caused                  between the casino industry and federal regulators because
                impacts on the state's infrastructure, its citizens, and on the        regulators investigate areas that can be quite sensitive in
                state's environment. The effects are both good and bad. The            nature. The stage is set for a dispute when the job of regu-
                Mississippi Legislature legalized dockside gaming on the               lators is to grant a permit, deny a permit, or recommend
                Mississippi River and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.                another site for the casino. After alternative sites are evalu-
                Because both the EPA and the Corps have regulatory                     ated, regulators evaluate the effects of the discharge to other
                authority over waters of the United States, friction between           environmental standards. Bucking water standards and
                the groups sometimes occurs. The 404 Permit Program is a               using a toxic discharge in fill material are in violation of the
                conflict resolution process considering environmental                  Clean Water Act. In addition, an assessment is made in rela-
                issues, weighed alongside the public's interests. The Clean            tion to significant degradation to the waters of the United
                Water Act passed in 1972. The Act was a result of a con-               States. If a project might cause significant degradation to
                tinued degradation of our nation's waters. The degradation             waters, the permit is going to be denied. Regulators look at
                was a result of insults to the environment. One of the                 assessment of appropriate steps to minimize impacts of the
                biggest examples of that degradation was the Cayahoga                  discharge.
                River, an Ohio river emptying into Lake Erie at Cleveland,               Because of continuing development on the Coast, efforts
                that in the 1970's was depicted in newspapers in flames.               to minimize and mitigate impacts have special significance.
                  Objectives of the Clean Water Act are the restoration and            If EPA, NMFS, or Fish and Wildlife Service believe that a
                maintenance of the chemical, physical, and biological                  project does not comply with the guidelines and the Corps
                integrity of the waters. That mission statement has caused             does not agree with that decision, another interesting con-
                great joy and much consternation since its inception in                flict resolution process called the Section 404(a) elevation
                1972. EPA was created before passage of the Act in 1970.               process is utilized. In 1993, a new memorandum of agree-
                The waters of the United States are defined as the: naviga-            ment between the agencies (Fish and Wildlife, the Corps,
                ble waters, interstate waters, intrastate waters, tributaries,         and EPA) was formulated. In the Section 404(a) elevation
                territorial seas, and wetlands. There is an overlapping juris-         process, a dispute over a particular project results, docu-
                diction between state statute and gaming statute in the                menting and evaluating problems with the environment. If
                Federal Clean Water Act authority. In the early 1990's, the            a permit has unacceptable adverse impacts, EPA's 404 pro-
                rationale was that the dockside casino was to be sited in cer-         cedure is set into motion.
                tain areas that overlap Corps jurisdiction, but there would              If a discharge, an excavation, or any kind of secondary
                also be secondary development coupled with the footprint               cumulative impact associated with the project has impacts
                of that casino. That thinking caused great consternation               on the inshore water supplies, shellfish beds, fishery areas
                throughout the federal family because evaluating the foot-             (including spawning and breeding areas), wildlife areas, or
                print of the casino is one thing, but secondary and cumula-            recreational areas, EPA will be compelled to go to our
                tive impacts of upland development to ensure that casinos              404(a) authority. This authority may be used before and
                remain, cause additional concern. Casinos should be evalu-             after the fact. This very time-consuming project usually has
                ated on a broader scale.                                               a short timeframe. Political pressures intervene. However,
                  One of EPA's roles in Section 404 is reviewing permits               Congress has left this seldom-used procedure in place. EPA
                that the Corps has accepted. EPA, Fish and Wildlife                    and the Corps jointly administer the enforcement program
                Service, NMFS, and several other agencies review and                   of Section 404.
                make specific recommendations to the Corps of Engineers.                 On the Mississippi Gulf Coast, EPA has conducted two
                Section 404 guidelines were written by EPA in 1975 and                 enforcement actions against casinos, One involved environ-
                updated in 1981, creating specific guidelines that must be             mental remediation processes. The other one resulted in a
                followed to be in conjunction with the Corps' compliance               penalty. EPA enforcement in Tunica County involved three
                for a permit. These are some of the guidelines to which                enforcement matters (three penalties including environmen-
                every casino, operator, or anyone applying for a Section               tal restoration). A significant penalty was issued by the
                404 permit must adhere. However, under President                       Vicksburg Corps of Engineers against a casino. The casino
                Clinton's plan, additional flexibility is provided by issuing          industry on the Coast has tried to do right by complying
                Nationwide Permits.                                                    with Section 404. Direct impacts to wetlands have been
                  The first step in the permitting process is the evaluation           minimal. However, secondary and cumulative impacts have
                of possible alternatives. In the beginning, friction exists            been significant.


                                                                                 12





                          The Mississippi Public Trust Tidelands Lease Program

                                                                         Margaret Bretz
                                                                    Public Lands Specialist
                                                       Office of the Mississippi Secretary of State


                   In the State of Mississippi, the Secretary of State is also         after all applicable permits have been obtained by the appli-
                the land commissioner; therefore, public lands, except                 cant.
                agency lands, are under his administration. One of the two                Next, a site-specific appraisal for each of these leases is
                great land trusts that the state owns is the public trust tide-        obtained. The appraiser uses a three-part approach. First, he
                lands and submerged lands. (The other is the Sixteenth                 arrives at a value based upon direct comparison of the prop-
                Section School Land Trust.) Since these tidelands and sub-             erty, return on value of the property, and percentage gross
                merged lands are publicly owned, compensation must be                  casino revenues of the property. The appraiser then recon-
                paid when some private exclusive use is made of these                  ciles these three figures to arrive at fair market rental value.
                lands. The Secretary of State established an office here on            Finally, this figure (which was determined by independent
                the Coast in 1988, and thereafter adopted rules for the                appraisal) is nonnegotiable. The figure is presented to the
                administration, control, and leasing of public trust tide-             lessee, and in each instance, the figure has been accepted
                lands. This tidelands lease program was in effect in March             and the lease executed.
                of 1992, when casino gambling was approved in Harrison                    Other terms of the lease are negotiable to a certain extent.
                County.                                                                If there are provisions that the lessee would like to include,
                   Between August 1992 and August 1994, 10 leases were                 they are included if possible. Some provisions are statutori-
                executed for casinos. Regulations specify that the leases be           ly mandated. Although the law allows a term of up to 40
                granted only to the adjacent upland owner or his assignee,             years, terms of the leases have been limited to 10 years,
                so the applicant for the lease must own or control the adja-           with one instance of 15 years. A statutorily mandated rent
                cent uplands. The policy has been to preclude any new                  review and an adjustment every 5 years is included as a pro-
                commercial leases off publicly funded sand beaches in the              vision of each lease. Public access to the leased areas is
                coastal counties. The policy has had the effect of confining           required if the lessee is able to provide it. In addition, the
                additional development to the previously disturbed or                  lessor recognizes that the lessee can take reasonable mea-
                impacted areas, ports, and harbors along the Coast and the             sures to protect the security of his property. The lease may
                area of downtown Biloxi, including the Broadwater, the old             be terminated upon the suspension or cancellation of the
                Sea & Sirloin Steak House, and Point Cadet.                            casino license. The state secures an indemnity and hold
                   The applicant must submit an application, an application            harmless provision in each of the leases. Moreover, liabili-
                fee, and a survey, which shows everything that is to be                ty insurance is required of the lessee.
                placed on the waters and waterbottoms to be leased and on                 Although the lease program was in place prior to the pas-
                the adjacent uplands. Every lease requires the lessee to               sage of casino gambling on the Coast, the revenues, as one
                abide by all applicable state, federal, and local regulations          might expect, have increased dramatically with the 10 casi-
                or statutes; any zoning ordinances; and any governmental               no leases. The revenues from the tidelands are spent as
                regulations that may apply to the activity.                            directed by statute. The revenues are used first for the
                   The lease process is usually triggered by the receipt of            administration of the Public Trust Tidelands Act and, see-
                the public notice of the proposed project from the                     ondly, to replace any lost tax revenues. To date, none have
                Department of Marine Resources. The office responds by                 been lost. Finally, the balance of the lease revenues is dis-
                advising that a lease will be required for the use. The                bursed to the Department of Marine Resources. Mississippi
                Department is notified when a lease application is received            law provides that the DMR use these monies for new and
                and proceeds with its permitting process. In addition, the             extra programs of tidelands management including preser-
                office coordinates with the Department to ensure that a                vation, conservation, public access, and public education.
                lease is not authorized for an activity that is not permitted          Recently, the Legislature has made the fund expenditures
                by the regulatory authorities. The lease is not issued until           part of the DMR appropriation process.










                                                                                  13





                            Recommendations for Changes in Permitting Casinos
                                                    in Mississippi Coastal Wetlands

                                                                       Richard McLaughlin
                                                          Associate Professor of Law and Director
                                                      Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program
                                                            University of Mississippi Law Center


                   In 1994, NOAA's office of Ocean and Coastal Resource                  guage is cloudy and needs to be clarified and tightened. Yet
                Management issued a report that was part of its ongoing                  another discretionary recommendation encourages the
                evaluation of state coastal management programs. That                    Commission to better define water-dependent activities and
                1994 report was somewhat critical of the way the State of                water-dependent industry. This issue is discretionary
                Mississippi permitted casino development within the                      because broad leeway has generally been granted to states
                coastal zone. In particular, the NOAA evaluation expressed               like Mississippi to make the determination of what is
                concern regarding how the state was allowing casinos in                  defined as a water-dependent activity or industry. There is
                certain areas that were designated in the formal coastal pro-            probably no legal problem with the way the state currently
                gram for other uses, such as commercial fishing ports,                   defines water-dependency.
                recreational marinas, and water-dependent industries. In                    Most people acknowledge that casinos have to be viewed
                addition, the report expressed some concern regarding the                as water-dependent activities because the Mississippi legis-
                procedures that were used to allow adjustments in the                    lation has required gaming to exist only on floating struc-
                Coastal Use Plan. The procedures were deemed inadequate                  tures. However, water-dependent status does not mean that
                and the report suggested that the state re-evaluate its current          casinos should be placed without limits all along the Coast.
                regulatory program to see if any changes were warranted.                 For example, casinos should not be located on sites suitable
                   Upon that recommendation, the Department of Marine                    for water-dependent industry. Sites suitable for water-
                Resources contacted the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant                    dependent industry are those sites that are located adjacent
                Legal Program at the University of Mississippi Law Center.               to navigable channels, which are suitable for commercial
                The Department of Marine Resources asked whether or not                  water-borne commerce. Casinos do not need a position
                the legal program would be interested in taking on the pro-              adjacent to a navigable channel that would support water-
                ject of evaluating the current regulatory structure and pro-             borne commerce. In fact, those locations are very limited in
                viding some recommendations. The Sea Grant Legal                         number. They are unique. Allowing casinos on those sites
                Program accepted the challenge and, in April 1996, submit-               prevents other industries that are truly water-dependent
                ted its findings.                                                        from locating there. Consequently, the Commission on
                   The recommendations of the legal program can be divid-                Marine Resources should re-evaluate the definitions of
                ed into two basic categories. The first category is composed             activities that can be allowed on sites suitable for water-
                of entirely discretionary recommendations. The reason that               dependent industry and close any loopholes that may allow
                they are discretionary is that the state in these areas is in            casinos to be placed on industrial sites. Similarly, the
                general compliance with existing federal and state law.                  Commission should tighten the definition on water-depen-
                Therefore, the recommendations may clarify or improve                    dent activities to ensure that nongaming activities such as
                certain aspects of the management of the coastal zone, but               theaters, child care facilities, and hotels are not placed on
                changes are not absolutely required. Examples in this first              floating structures over the state's submerged water bot-
                category include a recommendation that the Commission                    toms. Generally, those services are already prohibited from
                on Marine Resources more diligently ensure that all appli-               being located on floating structures. However, there have
                cants provide detailed descriptions of all associated and                been a growing number of requests to situate those kinds of
                secondary developments that are likely to occur. The                     activities on vessels. The policy therefore needs to be tight-
                Commission should then make sure that these impacts are                  ened and clarified.
                fully considered in all of the permitting decisions that are                The second general category of recommendations com-
                ultimately made.                                                         prises those that are not discretionary. They are not discre-
                   Another recommendation in the discretionary category                  tionary because they will bring the state into compliance
                encourages the state to re-examine the jurisdictional defini-            with existing state or federal law. An example of a nondis-
                tions within the coastal program. For example, some confu-               cretionary recommendation would be for the state to rede-
                sion exits regarding whether or not a recreational marina                fine the "commercial" designation within its Use Plan in the
                that is dredged from an upland area does or does not fall                Coastal Program. The Use Plan is similar to a zoning map.
                within the jurisdiction of the Coastal Program. The lan-                 The entire coastal zone is mapped and certain zones are


                                                                                   14







                delineated where particular activities can take place and              mon law rules in the State of Mississippi. The rule has been
                other activities cannot occur. Most casinos are located in             applied on dozens of occasions by the State Supreme Court
                these commercially designated zones. The Coastal Program               in the zoning context, and although the Supreme Court has
                allows in those commercial zones, according to express lan-            not yet ruled on this issue in the context of adjustments to
                guage, seafood processing, commercial fishing ports, recre-            the Coastal Program, a Chancery Court in Harrison County
                ational marinas, and associated development,                           has done so. Recently in regard to a casino site on the Biloxi
                   Nowhere in the Coastal Program are casinos or casino-               Back Bay, the court approved the "mistake or change in cir-
                related development mentioned. Clearly, there is a differ-             cumstance" test. As a result, the Commission on Wildlife,
                ence in the impact between a commercial fishing port or a              Fisheries and Parks applied the test and found that because
                seafood processing plant and a casino and all the related              there was a mistake in the original zoning, an adjustment to
                casino development that is adjacent. Casinos were placed in            the Coastal Program could be made. The report recom-
                the commercially designated zones because they were the                mends that the Commission on Marine Resources adopt the
                most suitable locations at the time. Many of the casinos               test as well because it is widely perceived that the State
                have been placed on what were once seafood processing                  Supreme Court will require the test if it is confronted with
                plants or commercial fishing facilities. These sites may, in           this issue in the future.
                fact, be uniquely suitable for casinos. However, the state                Finally, the last nondiscretionary recommendations
                cannot ignore the express language within the Coastal                  involve a state statute known as the "One-Stop Permitting
                Program. If the state wants to have casinos within this com-           Act." This act requires that all agencies with related or
                mercial designation, it should amend the Coastal Program               interrelated jurisdiction or authority cooperate to the great-
                to allow casino development within that designation. If the            est extent possible in processing and issuing permits. The
                state does not choose to do that, there is a possibility that a        purpose of the One-Stop Permitting Act is to avoid the sit-
                legal challenge may arise at some point in the future, with            uation that was quite common several years ago in which an
                someone challenging a permit saying that the state is allow-           applicant had to go to several agencies to get a permit. This
                ing an activity that is expressly prohibited within the                was viewed as inefficient, inconvenient for the permit
                Coastal Program.                                                       applicant, and a waste of money because many duplicate
                   Another nondiscretionary recommendation is that the                 expenses by various agencies occurred.
                Commission on Marine Resources provide full written find-                 Currently, there is little cooperation or coordination
                ings of fact and law whenever it renders a permit decision.            between the State Gaming Commission and the
                This requirement of full written findings is clearly required          Commission on Marine Resources. In particular, there is
                under the State Coastal Wetlands Protection Act, as well as            not the kind of coordination that is required under the One-
                in Administrative Procedures within the state. The require-            Stop Permitting Act. On the contrary, in some instances, the
                ment, in fact, was the reason why a recent decision by the             Gaming Commission will grant a preliminary permit based
                Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks was over-                  on its own very specific criteria, even in those circum-
                turned by Chancery Court in Harrison County. The                       stances where it is very unlikely that the particular prelimi-
                Commission failed to make formal written findings when it              nary permittee will be able to receive a permit from the
                made a permit decision.                                                Commission on Marine Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of
                  The last few nondiscretionary recommendations will                   Engineers, or the Secretary of State's office. Rather than
                probably be viewed by some observers as controversial.                 streamlining and coordinating the permitting process, the
                The first is a recommendation that the Commission on                   current approach pits one state agency against another. If
                Marine Resources clarify its requirements for adjustments              the Gaming Commission makes a preliminary decision, it
                in the Coastal Use Plan. On several occasions, casinos have            puts undue economic and political pressure on the second
                requested adjustments in the Use Plan to allow a casino to             state agency. Certainly, this is not the intent of the One-Stop
                locate within a zone that had been previously designated as            Permitting Act. In fact, the two agencies should be working
                a zone that prohibited casino-like activity. There is no               together, information should be shared, public hearings
                express requirement within the Coastal Program that a test             should be consolidated rather than held separately, and a
                be used requiring an applicant to either show a mistake in             single application process should be developed. If these
                the original zoning plan or a change in circumstances of the           steps are not taken, there is a chance that potential litigation
                neighborhood or the neighboring area before they grant an              will occur to force agencies to comply with state law.
                adjustment. However, this so-called "mistake or change in              Mississippi should evaluate ways to implement these rec-
                circumstance rule" is one of the most well-entrenched com-             ommendations.











                                                                                  15







                SECTION 11. CUMULATIVE AND SECONDARY IMPACTS
                                         OF DoCKSIDE GAMING DEVELOPMENT


                Economic Impacts


                                             Direct Effects of the Dockside Casino
                                                 Industry on the Coastal Economy

                                                                           Bruce Nourse
                                               Past President-Mississippi Casino Operators Association
                                                    Officer/Director-Mississippi Gaming Association


                  Direct effects of the dockside casino industry on the                    "Casino penetration" is the number of households that
                coastal economy have been positive. There are some nega-                make casino visits each year. It has grown steadily since
                tive aspects: the effect on infrastructure and the crime rate.          1990, when other states began legalizing gaming.
                However, the problems are caused by an increase in                      Seventeen percent of all households had gambled in 1990.
                tourism, more residents, and more construction. The                     That number grew to 27% in 1993. By 1995, 31% of all
                increase in crime is in large part attributed to gang and               households in the United States had gambled at some point.
                youth criminal activities, as well as the fact that we have                How popular is gaming in the United States? In 1995, the
                50,000 more tourists on the Gulf Coast than before gaming.              number of U.S. casino visits was 154 million. That is a 23%
                Therefore, a comparison of crime statistics now with pre-               increase over 1994 and three times the visits in 1991. Of the
                gaming crime statistics will reveal an increase without                 154 million people visiting casinos in 1995, 58% of them
                question. ne positive aspects, though, seem to outweigh                 went to places other than Las Vegas and Atlantic City. They
                the negative factors.                                                   went to casinos that were convenient for them. The average
                  In 1973, the economy of Biloxi was depressed. Someone                 gambler likes the convenience of a local casino. He does
                with a college degree did not have many options. Many col-              not want to travel halfway across the country. In 1995, gam-
                lege graduates moved to other areas where an industry and               ing visits even surpassed visits to amusement parks.
                a lifestyle were more attractive. Then, when dockside gam-              Furthermore, the total number of all spectators present at
                ing came to the Coast, it gave people who left this area                sports events in 1995 (including baseball, NFL, NBA,
                because of the depressed economy, the opportunity to                    NCA, NHL, and golf tours) was only 25 million more than
                return.                                                                 the number of those visiting casinos. Gaming is growing in
                  Some basic information about gambling will be helpful                 popularity as an entertainment option in the United States
                in understanding the industry. Gamblers, in fact, are really            today.
                just a slice of America. They are above the national average               The gaming industry employs nationally, directly and
                in education, income and employment; gamblers have a                    indirectly, more than a million people. Casino employees
                median income of $41,000 a year with 19% of them hold-                  alone received over $7 billion in salaries and bought homes,
                ing college degrees. Forty-four percent have white collar               cars, paid taxes, and got off welfare and Aid to Families
                jobs, and more than half of them are women.                             with Dependent Children.
                  What is America's attitude about gaming? Studies have                    Nationally, looking at various spots where gaming has
                shown that in 1995, 91% of those surveyed said that gam-                been legalized over the last few years reveals some very
                ing was an acceptable form of entertainment. Only 9% said               positive figures. Of course, the negative factors exist also.
                that gaming was not acceptable for anybody. Of the 91%                  In Joliet, Illinois, crime has increased and infrastructure
                who believed gaming to be acceptable, 61 % responded that               problems exist. On the other hand, property values have
                gaming is acceptable for them. Thirty percent said that it is           increased 23%. In Illinois, tax revenues from the 10 river-
                acceptable for other people but not necessarily for them.               boats reached $236 million in 1995, surpassing the legisla-
                Therefore, the conclusion is that many people in the United             ture's projection of $20 million. In Missouri in 1995, gam-
                States do not necessarily feel that gaming is for the morally           ing provided $55.9 million in tax revenues specifically for
                corrupt.                                                                the education system. In Louisiana, the 11 riverboats in


                                                                                   16







                 1995 paid taxes of $204 million. Of the $40 billion earned              Casino Magic is investing about $30 million in its property
                 by the casinos nationally, $1.5 billion were paid in tax rev-           over the next year building a hotel, and a whole new entry-
                 enues to the states and local governments where casinos                 way. Eventually, the casino will construct a very high-end
                 exist. Those are positive aspects that cannot be denied. The            shopping mall with a high-end hotel on top of that. The
                 casino industry increases capital investment, (e.g. $525 mil-           Golden Nugget and Imperial Palace are under construction,
                 lion by Golden Nugget in Biloxi). Casinos increase num-                 and at the same time many businesses and new businesses
                 bers of jobs.                                                           are being built.
                   In Mississippi, 29,000 new jobs have been created by this               The Development Commission projects hotel occupancy
                 industry. Of course, the tax revenues to the state and local            trends at 70%-plus. That is figured at $60 per night totaling
                 government are increased. Mississippi has been positively               $83 million in sales in 1995 and an 8.7% increase over
                 affected by gaming. Mississippi's present governor was                  1994. In 1995, apartment occupancy ranged from 90 to
                 elected when this industry was in its infantile stage and he            95%, with an average monthly rental of $416. Office occu-
                 was in the Governor's Mansion throughout the growth of                  pancy levels are at 90% or higher. Restaurant sales totaled
                 gaming in Mississippi. The Governor stated that he had                  $165 million in 1995, a 4.3% increase over 1994. Average
                 inherited casino gaming. Mississippi's economy was stag-                sales price of residential real estate in Harrison County has
                 nant before gaming. This industry played a great part in                risen from $68,500 in 1992 to $84,000 in 1995. That is a
                 stimulating the economy. The industry rose to the challenge             23% increase in sales price of residential real estate since
                 with no hint of corruption or scandal. That is, in large part,          the advent of gaming.
                 due to the Mississippi Gaming Commission, Gary McGee,                     The University of Southern Mississippi Division of
                 and his staff.                                                          Business Administration's Mississippi Gulf Coast
                   Mississippi's governor stated that the Mississippi gaming             Economic Report indicates that the periods of rapid growth
                 industry has created 29,000 direct jobs and 20,000 indirect             in 1993 and 1994 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast reveal that
                 jobs. The casino companies are building and investing in                the economic variables examined appear to point toward a
                 Mississippi. More than 70% of the casinos' customers come               stabilization of economic activity in 1995, in contrast to the
                 from out of state, so money is not simply recycled within               rapid growth periods of 1993 and 1994. The economic
                 our state. Mississippi is second in the nation in casino                thread that seems to be running through the past growth
                 square footage and third in gross gaming revenues. The                  appears to be in large part, a result of the gaming industry.
                 Governor stated that the free market is a wonderful appara-             Although not shown in this report, annual average employ-
                 tus. He continued saying that the strong will survive for the           ment from 1992 to 1994 in the service sector or gaming sec-
                 greater good of the industry. Lastly, he said, "Let the casi-           tor increased by an unprecedented number from 15,600 to
                 nos thrive and watch the success." This response was from               29,300, a growth of more than 87%. The largest portion of
                 a governor who enjoyed the benefits of what he calls the                this new employment was located in the gaming industry.
                 "Mississippi miracle," the incredible turnaround of the                 An increase in jobs tied directly and indirectly to this indus-
                 state's economy in the last 4 years. The Governor gives                 try has made a major impact on the coast economy. The
                 credit for one-third of the Mississippi miracle to the gaming           gaming industry in Mississippi has been beneficial to
                 industry.                                                               Mississippi. It seems that this industry is here to stay, and
                   The Harrison County Development Commission (a coun-                   the properties in the year 2000 are going to be larger. While
                 ty of a fixed population of about 183,000 and Metropolitan              there will be fewer casinos, they will be a department store
                 Statistical Area of about 350,000) projects a 5.3% job                  of entertainment. They will offer something for everyone
                 growth, which includes about 11,000 new jobs in this coun-              within every budget. In the year 2000, Mississippi will con-
                 ty since 1991. The Commission projects $700 million in                  tinue to see an increase in all economic indicators. At some
                 new construction costs during 1996 and 1997. That con-                  point in time, Mississippi will be up there with some of the
                 struction figure is not restricted to the casino industry.              best economic states in the country.
















                                                                                   17





                                The Impact of Casino Gambling in New Orleans

                                                                         Janet Speyrer
                                               Director, Division of Business and Economic Research
                                                                 University of New Orleans

                  The Louisiana Legislature allowed a land-based casino in            visitors who were coming were not planning ahead to gam-
               New Orleans in 1992; the casino actually opened at a tem-              ble. When asked if they were planning to gamble, if they
               porary 76,000-square-foot site on May I st of 1995. Because            brought money to gamble and, ultimately, if they did gam-
               of poorer than expected performance and other factors at               ble, tourists answered, for the most part, "no." Some
               the time, the casino downsized to 62,000 square feet and               tourists might visit the casino to play, but it was not some-
               laid off about 500 workers. Continued poor performance                 thing they planned ahead to do. Visitors who do not plan
               and an increase in costs at the permanent site (the                    ahead to gamble cannot, in general, extend a stay that would
               Rivergate, at the foot of Canal Street) caused Harrah's                lead to positive economic impact. In addition, these tourists
               Casino to declare bankruptcy on November 22, 1995. The                 were not, generally, big players.
               casino generated $88.7 million of revenue for the period                 It is also true that having clusters of activities like those
               that it operated. Actually, Harrah's (because they were get-           in the Biloxi-Gulfport area allows people to move from one
               ting $59 per admission) was still earning about $2,300 per             casino to another enjoying a variety of gaming entertain-
               square foot per year in revenue. So, one question is "why              ment. In New Orleans, people do not come to hear one jazz
               did it not perform up to expectations?" What kinds of things           singer or one jazz group but to hear a variety of jazz music
               might have caused the project to be sustainable in the long            on the whole. People do not go to Branson, Missouri
               run?                                                                   because of one country singer, but rather because of groups
                  One problem was that the taxes were much higher at that             of them. People want to have a variety. Moving from the
               location than in any other place in the country. The tax on            land-based casino in New Orleans to one of the riverboats
               the win was 25% of gross revenues at the temporary site.               was not convenient because of the distance.
               For the permanent site, which would encompass more than                  One other problem was that most of the people who went
               200,000 square feet at the foot of Canal Street, the tax was           to Harrah's casino were residents and existing visitors, not
               going to be a minimum of $100 million and about the same               new visitors, and there were not as many visitors as resi-
               rate beyond. Therefore, the tax rate at the permanent site             dents. About 65 to 75% of the people who visited Harrah's
               has been estimated to be between 40 and 47% at a perfor-               temporary site were residents. And the fact is that the resi-
               mance level consistent with the kind of performance that               dents, especially the higher income suburban residents, tend
               was occurring at the temporary site (but increased because             to frequent the riverboats in their neighborhoods or go to
               of the increased gaming space).                                        Mississippi instead of going downtown to a casino. Another
                  Another problem was that, in the legislation, Harrah's              problem resulted from the long regulatory delays. People
               was not allowed to offer any free food. Hotel rooms were               just underestimated Mississippi's growth. New Orleans was
               also disallowed. In the casino business, complementaries               playing catch-up at the time because Mississippi was
               are important, but were excluded because the existing                  already offering hotels and other kinds of entertainment.
               tourism industry in New Orleans was strong and                         New Orleans just "missed the boat," literally, on entertain-
               Louisianans did not want to upset that balance. As a result,           ment and hotels. At the same time, many felt that the invest-
               the legislation was very restrictive for this casino.These rea-        ment that was going into the downtown area was not J Usti -
               sons for failure are only part of the story, however. First of         fied based on the numbers. Instead of the casino getting 65
               all, the temporary casino site was on Basin Street. Basin              to 70% of visitors (as planned) and the remainder residents,
               Street is not on the main path of tourists. It is actually very        the casino had been experiencing the reverse.
               close to a subsidized housing development in an area that                When analysts looked further into casino performance,
               has not been one of the best kept, historically, and not one           several other findings were noted. The revenue was off; the
               of the newest and most tourist-oriented areas of the city.             numbers were only less than half of the projected figures.
               The permanent location at the foot of Canal Street was a               Also, the number of visitors was off; only a third of the
               more desirable location. In fact, many people wondered                 original projected number visited the casino. The implica-
               why Harrah's even bothered to open at the temporary site.              tion is that the market may not have been sufficient to sup-
               The temporary site was not Harrah's choice. They were                  port the huge capital investment that was being called for at
               forced to open a temporary site at the old Municipal                   the gigantic Rivergate site. Alternatively, Harrah's may
               Auditorium on Basin Street in order to get the operational             have just overestimated the activity at this temporary site.
               license for the permanent site.                                          River City Casinos (two boats) were operating downriv-
                  One other problem was that the New Orleans convention               er from the downtown area. The original investment called



                                                                                18






                 for $40 million per boat. However, the operation ended up             riverboats and the New Orleans riverboats really were not
                 spending $280 million on two boats and went broke in less             doing as poorly as many had thought. These revenue-per-
                 than 9 weeks. Again, the investment could not be support-             square-foot figures do not tell the whole story, but certain-
                 ed by the local gaming market. In the riverboat industry,             ly reveal some interesting facts. First of all, the most
                 originally 15 riverboat licenses were allowed in Louisiana            healthy boats were those operating in Shreveport and then
                 as a whole with nine in the New Orleans area. This indus-             those in Lake Charles. Shreveport faced slightly different
                 try was governed by some interesting rules. First, all boats          regulations; but both Shreveport and Lake Charles were
                 (except the ones on the Red River) had to sail. The boats             attracting significant numbers of Texas visitors. Estimates
                 had to be new and contain a maximum of 30,000 square feet             show that up to 85% of gaming visits come to these areas
                 of gaming space. The tax rates were high, with 18.5% of               from Texas. This is an important factor; it means not only
                 gross revenue going to Louisiana and $2.50 or $3.00 per               positive casino performance but also positive economic
                 passenger (or 6% of net gaming proceeds in the West Bank              impact because money is coming from outside the state.
                 of Jefferson Parish) going to the local governments. The tax          The Lake Charles numbers are slightly lower (than in
                 rate can be between 25 and 35% on a given boat, depending             Shreveport) because the casinos there face substantial com-
                 on its revenue per passenger. Legislation allowed for those           petition from the nearby Grand Coushatta Casino on an
                 boats to begin operating in 1991. The first boat, the Star,           Indian reservation. The Grand Coushatta Casino is actual-
                 started operating in October of 1993. This was followed               ly land-based and some people are going farther to the
                 quickly by Player's International in Lake Charles.                    Coushatta Indian reservation to gamble instead of staying in
                   It is interesting to note that the New Orleans area was             Lake Charles.
                 originally scheduled to have nine boats. Five boats were                The future of gaming in New Orleans is uncertain. First
                 scheduled to be in New Orleans, and four boats would oper-            the bankruptcy proceedings continue. There is a question of
                 ate in the surrounding parishes. Looking at New Orleans               whether a casino can operate profitably at the Rivergate site
                 now, one can see only four boats remaining in the area, with          at the foot of Canal Street given the high taxes and the big
                 only two in the city: one downtown (Flamingo), and one at             existing debt, the restriction on free food, and restrictions
                 the lakeshore site (Bally's Belle of Arew Orleans). The               on hotels. At this point, the Legislature is not inclined to
                 Treasure Chest is in Kenner and the Boomtown Belle is on              give the gambling industry anything. Gov. Foster has not
                 the west bank of Jefferson Parish. One other important fact           only offered a statewide referendum on gambling but also
                 is that the Flamingo, which started as the Queen of New               said that he would support the anti-gambling movement.
                 Orleans with 20,000 square feet, expanded to 30,000 square            Therefore, it doesn't seem very likely that concessions will
                 feet, because of good initial performance. However, the               be given. The question is not just "Can the casino operate
                 Flamingo downsized to 20,000 square feet in January of                profitably at the Rivergate site?" but "Can a casino at the
                 this year. Figures for the Flamingo show that revenue per             Rivergate site do for the State of Louisiana and for the local
                 square foot actually increased in the first quarter of this           economy what it was predicted to do?"
                 year.                                                                 The second issue is the multipart referendum in the fall.
                   The total revenue for Louisiana riverboats alone was                One part deals with whether or not to allow Harrah's to
                 $1.05 billion in 1995. In the coastal Mississippi area, rev-          open. Even if the vote is "no," Harrah's may be here for 30
                 enues were $716 million. New Orleans' revenue exceeded                years or more because that's the way the contract reads. If
                 that of the Coast, even with all of the Coast's highly-clus-          the contract is upheld in the Courts, Harrah's may be
                 tered activity. Mississippi's river casinos earned another $1         allowed to stay even if it is voted down. Many people sug-
                 billion. Thus, the total revenue figure is $1.7 billion for           gest that the vote will not be negative, but that there is some
                 Mississippi compared to $1.05 billion just for the riverboats         question about the economic viability of the project.
                 in Louisiana. Some believe that this shows that the                   Another part of the referendum on the ballot will be
                 Louisiana market is very strong, because this Louisiana rev-          whether to have riverboat gambling. This vote will take
                 enue figure does not count the $89 million in revenues from           place in 43 parishes, including those with riverboats and the
                 Harrah's, or the revenues from the three operations on                surrounding parishes. Many people thought the referendum
                 Indian reservations that are also doing very well and                 on riverboat gambling was a "done deal," that there was
                 expanding at this time. To show that the trend does contin-           definitely going to be riverboat gambling because of the
                 ue, in the first quarter of 1996, the riverboat casinos in            boats' positive impact on the parishes where they operate.
                 Louisiana made $303 million, while all of Mississippi made            However, it is unclear what impact the vote by those in sur-
                 $461 million in casino revenues.                                      rounding parishes will have. Even if the vote is "no," river-
                   Some problems do occur in comparing revenue per                     boat gambling can continue until the casino licenses are up
                 square foot per year on boats that have to sail with boats            (2 to 4 years).
                 that are dockside. In particular, a problem occurs when                 Another issue for the future is the fact that as of May 1,
                 comparing boats that have to sail and that have a maximum             1996, a single board governs all gambling activities (river-
                 square footage of 30,000 with boats that are unlimited in             boat gambling, video poker, land-based casinos, the lot-
                 space. However, there is a sense in which the Louisiana               tery). However, there are currently no approved commis-


                                                                                 19







              sioners. Consequently, many people who are operating in           Planning Commission but paid for by the gambling inter-
              the industry wonder what they are supposed to do in the           ests of each riverboat and land-based casino. Six major uni-
              meantime. Getting people appointed to this kind of board          versities with more than 30 researchers are involved. The
              takes quite some time.                                            studies are ongoing and will be finished soon. The studies
                Dean Tim Ryan, of the College of Business of the                include the effects on tourism, existing businesses, minori-
              University of New Orleans, and Janet Speyrer have been            ties, the revenue and expenditure of the local government;
              asked to head a panel of people from different universities       pathological gambling and its impact on social agencies and
              to study the impact of casino gambling activity in New            churches; crime and the criminal justice system; and real
              Orleans. This study is being commissioned by the City             estate values and land use.






















































                                                                           20






                                Economic Impacts from the Municipal Perspective

                                                                         David Staeffling
                                                 Director of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs
                                                                   City of Biloxi, Mississippi

                   To say that the gaming industry has been a natural cata-             fact that the City of Biloxi had 30 to 40 years of deferred
                 lyst for the City of Biloxi is a tremendous understatement.            maintenance at the time this development occurred. The
                 A more inherent economic catalyst could not have come to               deferred maintenance included the areas of water, sewer,
                 the city. The casino industry categorically touches every              drainage, police, fire, education, and recreation. This was
                 element of the city, including wholesale retail trade; food,           not the fault of any administration. The city simply had no
                 beverage, entertainment, and lodging industries; and partic-           money. At best, it could barely maintain its basic services.
                 ularly housing (single-family, multi-family, and commer-               In 1992, the city could not buy tires for the police cars.
                 cial). The amount of development for a city of fewer than              Now, police cars are being bought in volume. Needless to
                 50,000 people is unprecedented anywhere in the United                  say, the revenue that came with this industry has been sig-
                 States of America. In the first 3 years of development, since          nificant. A 3.2% diversion comes from the state to the city
                 the advent of dockside gaming in August 1992, $400 mil-                and county. Twenty percent of that fund goes into the
                 lion in development has occurred. Today, $600 million in               school system; 20% of it goes into public safety, fire and
                 new development is underway. This trend is not expected to             police; and 60% of it goes into the general fund for the city.
                 stop in the next 10 years. All of the market conditions are               To make the proper investment of the public dollars, the
                 paramount to underwriting a casino development.                        city had to evaluate the transition that had really occurred in
                 Conditions show much upside potential.                                 terms of the market forces imposed on the city and what
                   Biloxi prepared a waterfront plan, which focused on                  could be expected in the future. The city commissioned a
                 preservation enhancement. The plan evaluated the land-use              professional consultant firm with a tremendous background
                 element pertaining to that plan and incorporated an array of           in land use planning that focused on the discipline of real
                 land uses that would support comprehensive redevelop-                  estate development and had a detailed knowledge of the
                 ment. At the time of formulating the plan, all the land on the         technical operation of a municipality, particularly as it per-
                 outer perimeter of the peninsula was very distressed. Long-            tained to water, sewer, drainage, and transportation. The
                 term economic decay existed with no real upside potential              purpose of the study was to help the city focus on spending
                 for redevelopment. Although this plan focused on preserva-             tax dollars wisely. As a result, a needs analysis in the city
                 tion enhancement, it also focused on market analysis in land           was undertaken. The analysis considered the capacity
                 use as it pertained to the city and its future. This plan was          required to take on the new development with the popula-
                 adopted and ratified by the City Council, and it became                tion increase, growth trends, and economic development.
                 ordinance. The other element that really helped the casino               The elements of this comprehensive plan focused first on
                 initiative was the fact that Biloxi has been a gaming desti-           a base map system. A base map system is a parcel-by-par-
                 nation since the 1850's. A successful casino industry exist-           cel delineation of all the land in the city. It also focused on
                 ed until 1964, when the federal government shut it down.               setting up this base map system in a high-tech electronic
                 Consequently, the idea did not cause a social problem.                 format, a GIS system, that would set up attribute tables and
                   The development process occurs with a change in land                 assign the appropriate attribute values as far as all the infor-
                 use from a lower-value use to a higher-value use. Of course,           mation and data that affect land use, water, sewer, drainage,
                 all of the geography delineated for gaming was on the                  land-use improvements, and anything the city needed in
                 waterfront district and was the most distressed property of            terms of doing the proper analysis and studies and making
                 the city. Consequently, a convergence from the lowest pos-             choices on the development process. Included in that sys-
                 sible land use into the highest possible land use occurred. A          tem was all the hydric soil within the city to make sure that
                 high quality of development comes with this industry. The              the wetland delineations and impact analysis were done
                 industry has presented tremendous opportunity for the city.            properly. Land-use inventory was important, with the city
                 However, the city held certain things sacred. The heritage,            evaluating undeveloped land and looking at market forces
                 cultural values, and the character of the city have always             to determine what would be the best future land use for that
                 been very important in the underwriting process in this                particular land.
                 development. The totals are a billion dollars of develop-                The transportation factor is a major element. On a normal
                 ment in a 3/@-year period, $400 million complete, and $600             weekday, 10,000 to 15,000 people not from Biloxi come to
                 million under development right now. This development                  town. On the weekend, 150,000 visitors are here. Traffic
                 was a tremendous task for the city. Another factor was the             has increased dramatically. The city is dealing with many


                                                                                  21







               agencies to help people get from one destination to another           vice provided in the city: police, fire, education, transporta-
               as quickly as possible with the least inconvenience.                  tion, water, sewer, drainage, and recreation are evaluated.
                 The other element of focus was the goals and objectives             The city decides what the cost will be for development.
               element of the plan. The city commissioned the best polling           Once that cost is established, the gaming entity and the city
               corporation in the southeastern United States, MRI                    then participate in the impact cost. Casinos pay on the front
               Corporation, and consulted a tremendous sampling of the               end. The Golden Nugget is the largest casino outside of Las
               population in terms of attitudes and behaviors related to             Vegas and Atlantic City. The City of Biloxi declared at the
               perceptions of the problems in the city. In addition, the poll        beginning of negotiations that the corporation will provide
               asked how people thought the city should resolve those                the city with the capital needed to make sure that the city
               problems.                                                             has the proper capacity to handle the development in its
                 First, the people wanted to be safe. They wanted total              entirety on a short-term and a long-term basis.
               security and wanted to be able to get from one destination               One of the most talked about issues is our wastewater
               to the other safely. They also wanted very little increase in         management system. Needless to say, wastewater manage-
               crime. Over the last 3 years, the city has invested more than         ment is a concern of Mayor Holloway and the administra-
               $30 million in public safety, particularly in the police              tion. The Keegan Bayou treatment facility, which handles
               department. Fifty new police cars were bought, and 60 new             all of East Biloxi, where most casino development is locat-
               police officers were hired. The city invested heavily in edu-         ed, has been upgraded. Currently, the plants treat about 6
               cation and training, and has the best-paid police officers in         million gallons of wastewater per day. A new construction
               the State of Mississippi. People apply for positions in the           project will increase the capacity to 8.5 million gallons a
               police department from six or seven different states.                 day, leaving room to expand to 12 million gallons a day if
                 The budget has increased from $4.5 million in 1992 to               the need ever arises. This project will be completed in about
               $14 million this year. In 1995, the city had a 24% reduction          20 months. The Keegan Bayou plan currently meets all of
               in crime (rape, murder, robbery, larceny). The only increase          the requirements of standards set forth by the federal gov-
               in crime was traffic crime; primarily accidents. Certainly,           emment. Stricter requirements are on the way, but the new
               with 150,000 visitors on weekends and an extra 10,000 or              facility will be able to meet them.
               15,000 during the week, more fender benders will occur.                  Overall, the casino industry has been an environmentally
               More DUI's have been noted, and the city has doubled the              friendly industry. The city has been performing smoke test-
               size of the DUI task force. The net result of the reinvest-           ing of its sewer lines in east Biloxi to determine if any leaks
               ment has been a 24% decrease in crime.                                exist in the old system. Millions of dollars in infrastructure
                 The other biggest concern based on the polling was                  work is being done to repair the inadequacies, particularly
               water, sewer, drainage, roads, and transportation. Forty mil-         on the casino row area. Another important reason for smoke
               lion dollars have been invested in that particular public             testing is to find points of infiltration where rainwater gets
               works element of the community. The comprehensive plan                into the system. Rainwater does not need to treated.
               will indicate where the priority matters are. Fortunately,               The City of Biloxi is working closely with the Harrison
               Biloxi is in very good financial condition. Most of this work         County Wastewater Management District analyzing the
               has been done on a cash budget basis. Upon completion of              impact of the food and beverage industry. The gaming
               this plan next month, the city will take many long-term cap-          industry has a significant part of the food and beverage
               ital projects that are required and put them in a long-term           industry in each of its facilities. Outside the gaming indus-
               financing program (bonds) and complete them quickly.                  try, the food and beverage industry has had a good experi-
                 Underwriting a casino development involves certain pro-             ence in increasing their growth.
               cedures. First is a predevelopment conference with all of                Several contractors perform consultant analyses looking
               the architectural engineers and design personnel, as well as          for problems. The analyses focus on minimizing the size of
               the people representing the executive management owner-               screen openings in the sink and floor drains to allow mini-
               ship of the corporate entity. The city has a master plan              mal amounts of grease and wastewater to be discharged into
               process. It is about a 35-page document that underwrites all          the system. Restaurants must remove all the food that can
               the disciplines needing to be addressed for the city to under-        be physically removed through the garbage disposal system
               write the project. In addition, the city requires the entity to       as well as implement proper housecleaning techniques to
               coordinate all of the applications and all the submissions            prevent excess solids getting into the system. Restaurants
               (the Corps of Engineers, the EPA, DMR, all the flood plain            should install and increase the size of their grease traps to
               applications with FEMA, and FEMA construction require-                allow sufficient capacity for the amount of volume that is
               ments). The city requests that submitted site plans be pre-           being handled through the operation.
               sented to scale, delineating all of the projects.                        The city has recently received approval from FEMA for
                 Two analyses occur. The land-use analysis occurs when               a hazard mitigation grant that was applied for 6 months ago.
               applicants want a zoning change, or they have a number of             The grant will focus on a comprehensive stormwater drain-
               variances that they want for the development project itself.          ing analysis for the city. The focuses of that analysis will be
               Then, there is the impact analysis. All the elements of ser-          inspecting inventory; determining the adequacy of all exist-


                                                                               22







                ing drainage pipe structures, major ditches, channels, box        analysis that segregates the city into districts. When a
                culverts, bridges and the various flood frequencies; and          development occurs in the city, an electronic floor map will
                analysis of existing stormwater flow with existing and            demonstrate what needs to be assessed with that develop-
                future land use.                                                  ment,
                  Extensive field surveys will be conducted to determine             Another element is updating our mapping system, wbich
                the size, location, and flow lines of major pipe systems,         has been addressed through the city's comprehensive plan-
                including cross-sections, streams, and open channels where        ning process. One of the problems of stormwater drainage
                necessary. Particular emphasis will be in the area where the      analysis is the watershed effect and existing gravitational
                city experienced flash flooding in the last 2 years.              flows. Many of the areas normally seen that historically
                Mitigation measures will be developed and imposed,                have been retention/detention areas now have parking lots
                including construction costs to alleviate those problems          and rooftops on them. Water is also appearing in some areas
                identified in the underwriting study of the problems. In          that had no problems before,
                addition, the city will have a stormwater drainage impact


















































                                                                             23





                      Economic Dislocation of the Commercial Fishing Industry

                                                                        George Sekul
                                                                Gulf Central Seafood, Inc.
                                                                     Biloxi, Mississippi


                 Biloxi abandoned the seafood industry when dockside                 to tie up. It will be called "Lighthouse Fishing Pier." It was
               gaming came. Very little thought was given to what was                financed by the tidelands tax, which the casinos have paid
               going to happen when the casinos took over the front beach            for the most. The state relegated a half a million dollars to
               area. Neither congressional leaders in Washington, the                the Port Authority in Biloxi. That money will be used to
               Governor, nor local supervisors and politicians thought of            build this facility.
               the impact.                                                             One after another, seafood processing plants were sold to
                 One exception was Supervisor Bobby Eleuterius and                   gaming interests. The seafood industry is not completely
               some of his staff. They convened a seafood industry task              gone in spite of the casinos buying most seafood plant prop-
               force. This task force was astounded about what was to hap-           erty. It is estimated that between 40 and 50 million pounds
               pen to the City of Biloxi 's seafood industry. A search was           of shrimp are processed in Biloxi every year. It is hoped
               undertaken to find a place where some commercial fishing              that the planned piers will provide our fleets (our transient
               docks could be located. Soon most waterfront property                 fleets as well as our local fleets) a place where they can
               owners felt they had a potential casino development site.             secure their boats and feel safe about leaving them at night.
               One particular area was owned by the city and the Biloxi              It probably would have helped with planning if the city had
               Port Commission. Those groups thought that casino devel-              asked for a place to accommodate the seafood industry ear-
               opers would buy their property.                                       lier, That time is past. Now the Coast is looking forward to
                 This particular property is being considered again after 2          the three docks that are being built. There is still additional
               years. Three 270-foot piers will be built for commercial              space there; the city owns 5 or 6 more acres. There is room
               docking spaces. These will not be used for offloading, nor            to expand (if tidelands lease money could be used). Perhaps
               to get ice or fuel, but the piers will be a place for the boats       the commercial fishing fleet can be revitalized.


































                                                                               24





                 Social Impacts

                               Response of the Mississippi Coast Housing Market
                             and Property Values to Coastal Development Trends

                                                                         Woody Bailey
                                                             Gulf Coast Association of Realtors


                   Most real estate agents along the Coast will agree that the         that time frame. In 1991, they sold 735 new homes in three
                 casino experience has been favorable and exciting. In 1992,           coastal counties. In 1992, the number rose to 1, 154. Then in
                 the average sales price of a house was $68,483. By 1994,              1993, the number was 1,719. The peak occurred in 19,94,
                 the figure climbed to $83,621. That is a 22% increase in the          when it was 2,122. Then in 1995, the number dropped to
                 existing market. For 1995, the prices leveled to roughly              1,678, bringing a softening in the market. In the first quar-
                 $84,000. The total number of residential sales were 1,708 in          ter of 1996, total sales in the three-county area was 484.
                 1992, and 2,366 in 1994 (which brings the figure up 38%).             Annualized, that figure would be 1,946. The number is
                 However, in 1994, a big upturn occurred in the market. In             approaching the 1994 level. Many people sense a new wave
                 addition, some pent-up demand influenced these numbers                of activity,
                 and the number of people moving into the area.                          Of course, the Golden Nugget and Imperial Palace affect
                   In 1995, the residential sales declined to 2,008 (15%).             that activity, with additional people moving into the area
                 Sales ratios have also increased. In other words, what does           with those two casinos. The year 1996 appears to be a good
                 a house sell for? What is it listed for, and what does it actu-       year, with promise of approaching the 1994 banner year.
                 ally sell for? The ratio rose steadily from these numbers             When gaming came to the Coast, many people felt they had
                 from 1990 to 1994 and went from 91.9 to 95.7%. That is the            more opportunities in the job market. Therefore, many res-
                 "sold to listed price ratio." Then in 1995, that figure went to       idents felt they could move to a bigger home or build a new
                 an even 95%. So, despite the drop in residential activity, the        home. The psychological impact and the improvement in
                 ratio has remained quite strong.                                      the marketplace affected the real estate business. Overall,
                   In 1991, the number of residential real estate agents in            real estate has been favorably affected by gaming. The
                 our area was 441. In 1995 that number of agents rose to               long-term outlook (barring any problems nationally regard-
                 659. Many people entered the real estate business during              ing interest rates) looks good for the Gulf Coast.





























                                                                                 25






                                 Casinos and Crime: What the Statistics Reveal
                                                           in Coastal Mississippi

                                                                      Bob Waterbury
                                                                     Executive Director
                                                         Mississippi Coast Crime Commission


                 The Crime Commission deals with 10 crimes, three of                 counties. Fifty-five percent of all the reported crimes come
               which are crimes that the FBI does not worry with.                    from these two cities. Those two cities with 55% of the
               Everyone is concerned with violent crimes such as homi-               crime have only 35% of the population, and that's what a
               cide, rape, robbery, and assaults. Those are the four types           lot of people like to attack Gulfport and Biloxi on.
               evaluated to determine trends. Property crimes are also                 What are the leading crimes on the Coast? Larceny/theft
               tracked. These are the ones that juveniles are- highly                comprises 41% of all the crimes on the Coast. Juveniles are
               involved in (65% of the crimes are committed by juveniles).           highly involved in that type of crime. Number two is the
               Burglary is one of the property crimes. Larceny/theft is              fastest growing crime-assaults (16%). Number three is
               another. And auto theft is the other. Auto theft is kept sep-         burglary, both residential and commercial (15% of all the
               arate and distinct. Those are the seven crimes that the FBI           crimes on the Coast are burglary). Number four (14%) is
               reviews, and they receive information on a voluntary basis.           DUI, driving under the influence. The fifth leading crime in
               The Commission added three other crimes that included                 numbers is drugs (8%). Those five crimes represent 94% of
               arson, which is a fast-growing crime, drugs, and DIJI.                the total crimes on the Coast--29,090 crimes of the 31,067
                 People do not like to tell others what their crimes are,            reported last year.
               how many there are, and what is happening in their locale.              From 1993 to 1995, crime went up 30% percent on the
               It took the Commission 6 months to finally get 10 chiefs of           Coast. That is partly because of better equipment for our
               police, three sheriffs, the highway patrol, and the FBI to            law enforcement, higher salaries, more enforcement per-
               share their statistics. Now, television stations, radio sta-          sonnel, and more arrests being made. Biloxi now has one of
               tions, and print media, eagerly await the report each month           the best salary structures in Mississippi. Mississippi has
               detailing what the crimes are, the numbers, and the trends.           some of the best law enforcement in the world with the
                 The first year raw data were submitted voluntarily was              poorest salaries. Gulfport had 65 law enforcement people
               1993. Over 23,000 crimes were reported in 1993 from the               just a few years ago before gaming, now there are 165.
               three coastal counties. Crime, for the first 8 months in 1993,        Those people are out there now going after drugs and
               was almost identical with the first 8 months of 1992. It went         DUI's, therefore the numbers of arrests are increasing.
               to 30,964 in 1994. Statistics show a 29% increase in crime              What are the causes for the crime increase on the Coast?
               on the Coast comparing 1993, when the casinos started, to             Number one, wherever you have a population increase,
               1994, when they were finished. In 1995, total crimes on the           many tourists, and a lot of people, you are going to have a
               coast numbered 31,067. That is a big number, but not much             crime increase. What is number two? More gangs, more
               bigger than 1994 (one percent, in fact). The crime increase           peer pressure, and more involvement in gangs. Number
               has stopped.*                                                         three is drugs. Sixty-five percent of the crime is committed
                 The census in 1990 showed 312,000 people in the three               by juveniles. Seventy percent of all the people in prison in
               coastal counties. Another U.S. Census Bureau analysis in              Mississippi come from single-parent families, The worst
               1994 showed the population went up to 335,449. Before                 cause of crime is family deterioration. Many kids do not
               casinos came to the Coast in 1992, the population was                 respect parents and teachers, the police, or anybody. This is
               decreasing, unemployment was high, roads had problems,                not just the Mississippi Coast. This is universal.
               nothing was really moving. In 1995, Harrison County had
               20,457 of the 31,067 total crimes. Gulfport and Biloxi are
               the two biggest cities on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.                 *EDITOR'S NOTE: Subsequent to Mr. Waterbury's pre-
               Gulfport is the second biggest city in the state and will             sentation and prior to printing this document, there was an
               eventually become the biggest. Biloxi will be number two              increase in certain types of crime that contradicts his
               or close to it. Gulfport last year had 9,374 crimes, by far the       premise that "the crime increase has stopped." There was
               largest number. Biloxi had 7,712. That's 17,086 just in               no way this could be foreseen and underscores the problems
               those two cities from the total of 3 1,000 for the whole three        inherent in tracking crime statistics.





                                                                                26





                                                     Coastal Hazards Mitigation

                                                                       Jerry Mitchell
                                                             Director of Planning and Policy
                                                     Mississippi Department of Marine Resources


                  For our purposes here, "coastal hazard" concerns evacu-            number of other problems became evident. Coast Guard
                ation of boats. The issue of moving some of these casino             approval to move these vessels is required. That takes time,
                boats in the event of a storm or catastrophic event, such as         preplanning, and careful execution. Barges with no propul-
                a hurricane, really came forward in 1992, when Hurricane             sion need to have a tug and crew to be moved, and these
                Andrew crossed the Florida Peninsula and passed south of             often come from distant sites. The Highway Department
                the Mississippi Coast. The Bureau of Marine Resources                will not raise the lift spans on the bridges when winds are
                (BMR) was not really concerned about casino boat evacua-             more than 30 knots. Those were some of the earlier consid-
                tions. There were only three casino boats operating at the           erations.
                time in coastal Mississippi. Most all these boats were river-          Also, there is a resident population in coastal Mississippi
                type that had steerage, propellers, and motors so they could         of more than 300,000 people. The consideration of evacu-
                be easily moved around. So, during Andrew, they were                 ating these 300,000 people in addition to possibly 100,000
                moved to the Back Bay of Biloxi, Gulfport Lake, and the              tourists compounded the situation. The highway bridges
                Industrial Seaway.                                                   need to be open to move the vessels, and if the bridge is
                  Later, a number of additional casino boats came on line;           open, the resident and tourist population cannot evacuate.
                some of the riverboats were phased out and replaced by               All these situations had to be worked out in advance of an
                restored barges that were more than 50,000 square feet in            evacuation. The BMR had to coordinate the evacuation
                size. The BMR was approached by the Harrison County                  with that of the Highway Department, the county Civil
                Civil Defense Council, the City of Biloxi, and the City of           Defense, state Civil Defense, the Emergency Management
                Gulfport to address evacuation of casino boats and barges,           Agency, and the Coast Guard.
                not only the three riverboats operating at the time but those          The disruption of electrical power in coastal Mississippi
                larger boats that were coming on line. The BMR                       was also a potential problem, with the power lines extend-
                approached their funding source (NOAA) and asked for                 ing across the Back Bay of Biloxi. When de-energizing
                help with planning the movement of casino vessels in the             electricity to municipalities and homes, traffic signals (that
                event of a hurricane. A study was undertaken and finished            are needed to evacuate the coastal population) would not
                in July of 1994, looking at a number of different movement           function.
                scenarios. There were nine or ten boats at the time. One               Approximately 32,000 commercial and recreational
                option was for the the vessels to remain in place. Another           vessels would also need to be moved to safer waters. If a
                option was evacuation to a remote site outside of the Back           casino vessel was grounded or sank in the channel, it would
                Bay of Biloxi. A third option was evacuation to the                  play havoc with evacuation of these vessels as well as other
                Industrial Seaway. Some of the boats had designed their              casinos. Should casinos be required to evacuate to sites on
                mooring structures to withstand 155 mph winds with 15-               Back Bay or the Industrial Seaway, there is a greater risk
                foot storm surges at their sites. Some of the other boats            from problems caused by the evacuation than from the
                would go to the high sea. The Mississippi Gaming                     actual storm threat (regardless of the hurricane's eventual
                Commission requires that each vessel have a hurricane                strength.)
                evacuation plan as part of the permit application or permit            Essentially, what was determined was that removal of the
                approval. Therefore, most all the boats had a hurricane              vessels in an orderly fashion to protected waters was a
                evacuation plan.                                                     virtually impossible task. On June 30, 1994, the Gaming
                  Evacuation sites in the Back Bay of Biloxi for the eight           Commission voted to require the use of permanent moor-
                or nine vessels that should be moved, were examined and a            ings as a license requirement for each coastal casino.













                                                                               27






                                                  The Incidence and Social Costs
                                            of Gambling Addiction in Mississippi

                                                                        Rob McKinley
                                                       C.A.D.C. Gambling Program Coordinator
                                                               Pine Grove Recovery Center


                  Most people can gamble for fun and recreation. Some                 paid approximately 65% of their taxes. The unemployment
               people can't. Prevalence estimates across the country show             rate was estimated at 26%; when gambling came in it
               that problem and pathological gamblers range from a low of             decreased to 4.5%. U.S. Highway 61 runs down through the
               1.7% in a 1989 study conducted in Iowa to 7% in a 1995                 Mississippi Delta from Memphis to Tunica to Vicksburg
               study conducted in Louisiana. The number of lifetime prob-             and beyond. Prior to legalized gambling, the car count from
               lem and pathological gamblers increased in Iowa from                   Memphis to Tunica averaged about 3,500 a day. In January
               1.7% in 1989 to 5.4% in 1995 (Volberg, 1995). The rapid                1995, that amount increased to 23,000 per day. The number
               expansion in the availability of legalized gambling in Iowa            of hotel rooms in Tunica County jumped from 40 in 1994
               appears to have substantially contributed to these increases.          to 1,500 in 1995. Retail sales in the fiscal year ending June
               The last nationwide prevalence study was conducted in                  1994 jumped 299% from the previous year (Ragland,
               1974 and showed that 69% of the respondents wagered in                 1995).
               one or more types of government-approved gambling                        There are approximately 30 casinos and 130 bingo halls
               (Kallick and Kaufmann, 1979). Mississippi State                        in the State of Mississippi. In 1995, gross revenues totaled
               University studied a sample of 1,500 American adults                   $1.72 billion. The state is ranked second in casino square
               across the United States in 1995 and found that 61%                    footage in the United States behind Las Vegas, Nevada.
               wagered in one or more types of government-approved                      Gambling is an ancient and universal human activity
               gambling (Cosby, 1995). Because studies have been few,                 with origins dating back as early as 3000 B.C. in ancient
               accurate information on statistics as to how many real prob-           Babylonian civilizations and Chinese cultures. Dice were
               lem and pathological gamblers are in Mississippi is not                introduced in approximately 300 B.C. and loaded dice have
               available.                                                             been found at excavations at Pompeii. In Lydia, dice were
                  Approximately $482.6 billion were wagered in the                    given in times of famine to distract people's minds from
               United States in 1994. Gambling industry gross revenues                hunger. Roman soldiers cast lots for Christ's robes and
               were estimated at $40 billion during the same year. This               invented roulette by upending a chariot wheel. In Colonial
               compares with recorded music gross revenues of $12 bil-                times, gambling was condemned as an immoral act; how-
               lion, theme park gross revenues of $6.1 billion, and film              ever, early Americans continued to bet on horse races, dog
               and box office gross revenues of $5.4 billion (Harden and              and cock fights, and lotteries. Society supported an
               Swardson, 1996).                                                       antigambling rationale, but gambling continued to be a pop-
                  The gaming industry has done positive things for                    ular activity. In early America, colonies employed lotteries
               Mississippi. It has created approximately 30,000 direct and            to finance roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals. As the
               30,000 indirect jobs (Krutcher, 1996). The industry has                19th century progressed, horse racing was established on
               aenerated a substantial amount of tax revenue and created              the East and West Coasts and gambling laws were tight-
               numerous capital investments. Bob Mahoney, a restaurant                ened. The first casino in the United States was opened in the
               owner in Biloxi, Mississippi has been quoted as saying of              middle of the Nevada desert by Bugsy Segal in 193 1. That
               the gaming industry, "We knew it was going to be good, but             first casino was in Las Vegas, presently known as the gam-
               we didn't know it was going to be this damn good" (Smith,              bling mecca of the world. In 1984, New Jersey legalized
               1996).                                                                 casino gambling in Atlantic City. In 1989, Iowa passed a
                  A recent U.S. News & World Report economic ranking of               law allowing riverboat gambling on the Mississippi River
               the 50 states ranked Mississippi as number eight. It reports           and, in 1991, had it's first riverboat casino (McGurrin,
               that the billion-dollar-per-year gaming industry has touched           1992). Mississippi legalized dockside gambling in 1990,
               off an economic boom. A good example of this is Tunica,                and the state's first casino opened in 1992.
               Mississippi, which was touted by The Reverend Jesse                      It is estimated nationally that 3 to 5% of adults are con-
               Jackson in a 1985 Jet magazine article as "America's                   sidered pathological or problem gamblers. The essential
               Ethiopia," with poverty comparable to that of a third-world            features of pathological gambling are: a continuous or peri-
               nation. It was judged as the poorest county in the poorest             odic loss of control over gambling; a progression in gam-
               state in the nation (Cheers, 1985). The main industry in               bling frequency and amounts wagered and the preoccupa-
               Tunica prior to legalized gambling was agriculture, which              tion with gambling and in obtaining monies with which to


                                                                                28







                gamble; and a continuation of gambling involvement                  Gamanon meetings, helping the gambler to see their dis-
                despite adverse consequences (APA, 1994). Many people               honesty, defenses, and various manipulations, and working
                view pathological gambling as a behavioral disorder since           toward reconciliation. The other form of treatment, inpa-
                there are no external signs and symptoms of the illness such        tient or residential, involves basically the same educational
                as red eyes, slurred speech, alcohol on the breath, or track        components but is indicated when the gambler needs a safe
                marks on the arms. This view, however, is erroneous. It has         place in which not to gamble; or when their symptoms are
                kept many people from seeking the help they so badly need.          more severe such as suicidality, depression, anxiety or other
                  To the contrary, there are many components associated             psychiatric problems that need supervision. Other addic-
                with pathological gambling that are very similar to the             tions, such as alcohol or drugs, and previous UnSuCceSSfUl
                symptoms associated with alcohol or drug addiction. These           attempts at outpatient treatment can also warrant the need
                include cravings, withdrawal symptoms such as restless-             for inpatient treatment.
                ness, irritability, depression, anxiety, and increased toler-          We all have a responsibility in seeing to it that our fami-
                ance (e.g. needing more of the substance [money] or activ-          ly, friends, and loved ones get the help they need. If you
                ity [gambling] to get the desired effect). There also appears       have questions, you can 'call the Pine Grove Recovery
                to be a physiological response (e.g. increase in adrenalin,         Center at 1-800-321-8750 or the National Council on
                endorphins) that would suggest the action phase in gain-            Problem Gambling at 1-800-522-4700.
                bling is similar to the rush or high that is obtained when
                using cocaine or other drugs. This "action" is what the gam-                               References
                bler becomes addicted to and seems to provide some expla-
                nation for the occurrence of physical withdrawal symptoms           American Psychiatric Association. 1994. Diagnostic and
                that gamblers experience during initial abstinence.                     Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, 4th Edition.
                Pathological gamblers in the desperation phase are not                  Washington, DC.
                gambling because it is fun, they are gambling to overcome           Cheers, M. 1985. Shocking Plight of Black Life in Tunica
                a craving that is beyond their mental control.                          Mississippi. Jet Magazine.Vol. 68, pp 26-31
                  Pathological gambling is a four-phase disease. The initial
                phase, called the winning phase, is usually marked by a big         Cosby, A. 1995. United States Survey of Gaming and
                win or series of wins. This solidifies the mindset that the             Gambling in the United States. Gaming Research
                gambler can do it again. They will pursue this false hope               Group. Mississippi State University, Mississippi State,
                until they lose everything they have. The second phase is               Ms.
                called the losing phase. It is marked by unreasonable opti-         Harden, B, and A. Swardson. 1996. Forget Baseball;
                mism, increased preoccupation with gambling, prolonged                  Gambling is America's Favorite Pastime. Washington
                losing episodes, and chasing (going back the next day or the            Post, Washington, DC. March 3, 1996.
                next week to try and recoup losses). The third phase, called
                the desperation phase, is marked by bailouts (borrowing             Hattiesburg American. 1994. Mississippi Overtakes New
                from family or significant others in an attempt to get out of           Jersey in Gambling. Hattiesburg, MS. May 13, 1994.
                debt, increases in amount and time spent gambling, inabili-         Kallick, B., and C. Kaufmann. 1979. The Micro and Macro
                ty to pay mounting debts, and illegal acts). The fourth                 Dimensions of Gambling in the United States. Journal
                phase, called the hopelessness phase, is when the gambler               of Social Issues 35:7-26.
                often becomes hopeless, depressed, and even suicidal and
                can face divorce, loss of job, and complete emotional break-        Krutcher, N. 1996. State's Tourism Was Not So Secret
                down. Hopefully, this is when they seek help, if they seek it           Weapon. The Clarion Ledger, Jackson, MS. Feb. 25,
                at all, when there is often no money to get help.                       1996.
                  Fortunately, there are many resources for help available,         McGurrin, M. 1992. Pathological Gambling: Conceptual,
                such as Gamblers Anonymous, Gamanon, treatment cen-                     Diagnostic and Treatment Issues. Professional
                ters, state mental associations, state councils on compulsive           Resources Press. Sarasota, FL.
                gambling, and The National Council on Compulsive
                Gambling. Many times, problem or pathological gamblers              Ragland, L. 1995. Gaming Big Plus to Some River
                need treatment. The most common form of treatment is                    Counties. The Clarion Ledger. Jackson, MS. Jan. 23,
                done on an outpatient basis. This treatment usually involves            1995.
                a gambler participating in educational sessions about patho-        Smith, D. 1996. Gambling Facts and Figures. The
                logical gambling, group therapy with other pathological                 Washington Post. Washington, DC. March 3, 1996.
                gamblers, education on and participation in Gamblers
                Anonymous groups, taking a financial inventory, and                 Volberg, R. 1995. Gambling and Problem Gambling in
                beginning financial restitution. Treatment also includes get-           Iowa - A Replication Survey. Gaming Research.
                ting the family involved in the treatment process, attending            Roaring Spring, VA.



                                                                              29






                Environmental Impacts and Demands on Infrastructure


                                                Nonpoint Source Pollution Effects
                                                               of Dockside Gaming

                                                                       Cathy Z. Hollomon
                                                                  Mississippi State University
                                                          Coastal Research and Extension Center


                  The economic and financial gains that have been realized              runoff or percolation through soil layers. Common sources
                in coastal Mississippi with the advent of dockside gaming               of nonpoint pollution include agriculture (both crop and
                are well documented. Little attention, however, has been                livestock farming) silviculture, stormwater runoff, failing
                paid to the cultural or environmental impacts that have also            individual septic systems, surface mining', landfills, and
                resulted from the dockside gaming industry. As such, the                hazardous waste sites.
                National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office                   In coastal Mississippi, stormwater runoff and failing sep-
                of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management funded a pro-                  tic systems are the dominant forms of nonpoint source pol-
                ject through the Mississippi Department of Marine                       lution contributing to the degradation of the environment.
                Resources to assess the status of one important environ-                Stormwater runoff occurs when pervious surfaces e.g.,
                mental impact - nonpoint source pollution in the                        native soils, are paved or built on and become impervious
                Mississippi Sound. Because both Mississippi and Alabama                 surfaces. When rainwater falls on an impervious surface,
                recognize the benefits that the resources of the Sound have             sheet wash carries pollutants such as oil, grease, antifreeze,
                to both states, they teamed together and coordinated an                 etc. to nearshore waters. Herbicides and pesticides from
                effort to evaluate the overall problems and to ultimately               lawns and golf courses, when used in excess, are also car-
                implement a regional management strategy to work toward                 ried in runoff waters adding nutrients and toxins to
                resolving these problems.                                               nearshore waters. Failing septic systems are problems for
                  This project is part of a larger, more comprehensive                  individual homeowners as well as for the environment.
                study the coastal zone management agencies of Mississippi               Individual homeowners are concerned because a failing
                and Alabama are conducting. The purpose of the project is               system may cause sewage to back up into their homes.
                to evaluate and document types and sources of nonpoint                  Environmental concerns exist when the native soil is not
                source pollution that result or potentially result from the             properly treating the sewage and untreated or partially treat-
                gaming industry. The study is not intended to collect new               ed sewage enters the water table, potentially contaminating
                data or information, but rather to utilize data and informa-            private drinking water wells, rivers, bayous, or nearshore
                tion that already exists. The object is to assess where we              waters.
                stand, document the status of the problem, and identify the                Historically, the object of stormwater management was
                gaps or holes in the data. The intent is that this infori-nation,       to convey floodwater away from a developed area. The pur-
                or lack of information, will become part of the management              pose was to prevent flooding within residential areas or
                plan being developed jointly by the coastal zone manage-                business communities. Little consideration was given to
                ment agencies of Mississippi and Alabama.                               what was occurring downstream. The focus was to channel
                  Specifically, the objectives of the project are to (1) assess         the floodwaters out of the area as quickly as possible. It is
                water quality conditions pre- and post-dockside gaming, (2)             now widely recognized that stormwater management has
                document the use of stormwater management practices, and                many other important functions.
                (3) evaluate the effectiveness of existing stormwater man-                 When a stormwater management system is designed,
                agement practices.                                                      installed, and is operating properly, it not only serves as
                  Nonpoint source pollution is recognized nationwide as a
                major contributor of contaminants to rivers, waterways and               Active mines are now considered sources of point pollution. The mines
                inshore waters. Nonpoint source pollution has no distinct               are required to manage all runoff on-site. The discharge from that runoff is
                point of discharge that can be controlled through programs              considered point source and is regulated accordingly. Old or abandoned
                such as the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination                    mines, however, are exempt from these regulations and are commonly
                System. It is a diffuse flow that enters waterways by surface           sources of norpoint pollution.



                                                                                  30







                flood storage but also as a pollutant remover and sediment             Grassed swales should be incorporated as one element of a
                trap (as wetlands and floodplains do naturally).                       stormwater management system rather than the sole
                  In Mississippi, the statutes regulating stormwater man-              stormwater management system.
                agement are weak. Stormwater management is only                           Detention basins are another type of stormwater manage-
                required during the construction phase of new develop-                 ment used by several of the casinos. A detention basin is an
                ments where the land disturbance is greater than 5 acres.              impoundment that traps and ponds water for a designated
                Anything less than 5 acres does not require stormwater                 period of time with slow release back to the environment.
                management. Requiring stormwater management for the                    The pollutant-removal capabilities are minimal. In some of
                construction phase only means that the stormwater man-                 the detention ponds, however, wetland plants have started
                agement is temporary. As soon as the development is com-               to establish, allowing the nutrient and pollutant uptake to
                pleted, stormwater management is no longer required.                   increase. The detention basin's pollutant removing capabil-
                However, if the development is impacting a wetland area, a             ities are low to moderate. That, of course, would increase
                Section 401 Water Quality Certification is required as part            with the increased detention times and the presence of wet-
                of the regular wetland permitting process. This provides a             land plants for pollutant removal. There are few environ-
                mechanism       for   the    Mississippi     Department        of      mental concerns unless the detention basin is built in a wet-
                Environmental Quality to condition the Water Quality                   land area. Detention basins are a recommended practice
                Certification to require stormwater management practices.              particularly if wetlands are incorporated into the design.
                But when a project occurs outside of a wetland area, there                A retention basin is an infiltration reservoir or basin that
                is no authority to implement or enforce stormwater man-                provides complete on-site storage and treatment of a spe-
                agement practices after construction is completed.                     cific volume of stormwater runoff. One of the casinos has
                  Many communities and municipalities are starting to                  incorporated this kind of stormwater management into the
                develop their own stormwater management requirements.                  overall design of its landscaping plan and created a park-
                They realize the importance of retaining and controlling               like atmosphere complete with fountains near its RV camp-
                stormwater on-site. The first half-inch of runoff must be              ing area. This system provides complete on-site storage and
                temporarily retained and treated. The first half-inch of               treatment of most of the runoff waters. The retention
                runoff contains more than 90% of the pollutants washed                 basin's pollutant removal is considered moderate to high.
                from impervious surfaces. In proper stormwater manage-                 The environmental concerns are few provided it is not con-
                ment, that first half-inch of runoff is separated out and treat-       structed in a wetland area.
                ed, the remainder of the runoff is retained for nutrient                  Modular parking pavement is another type of storinwater
                removal and sediment control purposes. These waters are                management that several casinos installed. Modular parking
                then slowly released back into the environment.                        pavement consists of concrete grids or other structural units
                  The casinos in coastal Mississippi have all complied with            alternated with pervious fillers such as sod, gravel, or sand.
                existing rules and regulations concerning stormwater man-              It provides a hard, tough surface that can be driven on, but
                agement. The question is, however, are the rules and regu-             remains somewhat permeable to rainwater. Unfortunately,
                lations enough and are they effective? Not all stormwater              field observations showed that the modular pavement was
                management practices function equally. Schueler et al.                 installed only along the perimeters of the parking areas. The
                (1992) presented a technical assessment of the capabilities            majority of the parking area was solidly paved with con-
                of several common stormwater management practices. The                 crete. Runoff from the large concrete areas was flowing
                ability to remove pollutants, any environmental concerns,              over grassed swales or directly into discharge pipes. The
                or any special considerations concerning each stormwater               modular pavement appeared to be filtering rainwater only,
                management practice was assessed.                                      it received none of the runoff from the parking areas.
                  Grass swales are the predominant stormwater manage-                     An exfiltration trench provides below-ground retention
                ment practice utilized by the majority of the casinos. A               of stormwater for slow release into the soil. Stormwater
                grassed swale is basically a channel covered with grass that           runoff is temporarily stored in a trench filled with coarse
                conveys runoff waters. The grasses help to remove pollu-               aggregate and allowed to exfiltrate through the trench walls
                tants and sediments in the runoff waters. Grass swales make            for disposal and treatment into the native soil. One casino
                an effective stormwater management practice in lieu of curb            utilizes this type of stormwater management. An exfiltra-
                and gutters in single family residential areas or possibly             tion trench that has been properly designed and installed
                along medians of highways, but the effectiveness to handle             can be a fairly effective stormwater management practice.
                the runoff of large impervious surfaces such as parking lots           Pollutant removal capabilities of exfiltration trenches are
                is limited. Grass swales provide minimal treatment of                  presumed moderate. However, at one of the casinos sur-
                runoff waters. The degree of treatment depends on the con-             veyed for this study, the exfiltration trench is located adja-
                veyance time through that swale. Pollutant removal and                 cent to the beach. The groundwater elevation is near the
                sediment trapping are increased if check dams are installed            surface and may even fluctuate with the fide. The treatment
                to retain or slow the flow of water. The environmental con-            capabilities of this type of system in that location are ques-
                cems are minor, there is little destruction or impact.                 tionable. The risk of groundwater contamination is high.


                                                                                  31







                Exfiltration trenches are commonly recommended with pre-               cent of its soils classified unsuitable. Suitable soils are low-
                treatment. If there is preliminary treatment of runoff filter-         est in Hancock County at only 8%, whereas, in Harrison
                ing through an exfiltration trench, the quality of discharge           and Jackson counties suitable soils reach almost 40% and
                should be improved.                                                    35%, respectively.
                   Another significant source of nonpoint pollution to                    Marginal soils are high in Hancock (41 %) and Harrison
                Mississippi's nearshore waters is failing septic systems.              (28%) counties and relatively low in Jackson County (8%).
                Failing septic systems allow untreated or improperly treat-            If marginal soils turned out to be unsuitable for under-
                ed sewage to enter adjacent water bodies. This source of               ground absorption, more than 90% of Hancock County
                pollution is not a direct result of the casino industry. Any           would be unable to support an individual septic system.
                industry that results in the increased level of residential and        Yet, based on 1990 census data almost 50% of its residents
                commercial development that is currently being experi-                 are dependent on septic systems. In Harrison County where
                enced along the coast would cause this type of pollution to            there are more extensive municipal collection and treatment
                increase. The Mississippi Coast does not have the infra-               facilities, 19% of the households are dependent on individ-
                structure (municipal treatment systems) necessary to sup-              ual systems. In Jackson County, 27% of the households
                port the rapid growth. Therefore, people are dependent on              have septic systems. These numbers are extremely conser-
                individual septic systems. If the systems are not functioning          vative because the census does not reflect the tremendous
                properly, untreated or improperly treated sewage enters the            growth in population currently being experienced along the
                groundwaters and adjacent waterways.                                   coast.
                   The most common type of individual septic system is the
                septic tank with underground absorption field. The tank                    The conclusions from this study are:
                serves as primary treatment where solids are separated from            (1) The dominant sources of nonpoint pollution are
                liquids. A clarified liquid is then discharged from the tank               stormwater runoff and failing septic systems.
                to the drain field where it slowly percolates through the soil.        (2) All existing casinos have complied with existing rules
                The degree to which the effluent is purified is dependent on               and regulations governing stormwater management.
                the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil and the
                elevation of the groundwater table. Coastal plain soils                (3) The stormwater management techniques implemented
                inherently are not good for this type of treatment, yet it is              by the casinos were designed to manage increased flow
                the treatment method most often utilized.                                  associated with parking lot development; there are min-
                   Soil suitabilities for the three coastal counties were deter-           imal pollutant removal capabilities designed into the
                mined based on soil profile data and groundwater table ele-                structures.
                vations from county soil surveys. The soil suitability cate-           (4) There is no baseline water quality data to compare pre-
                gories are (1) suitable (those soils capable of supporting                 and post-casino development. Numerous studies have
                underground absorption), (2) marginal (soils that may or                   been conducted throughout Mississippi Sound and up
                may not be suitable), and (3) unsuitable (soils that inherent-             the coastal.rivers, but there have been no systematic or
                ly have characteristics that preclude them from being effec-               comprehensive studies that can be used as baseline
                five). Soil suitabilities for underground absorption within                data.
                the three coastal counties are low.
                   In Hancock County, 50% of the soils are considered                  (5) Although stormwater management practices are
                unsuitable because of high groundwater table elevations                    required at casino development sites, there are no
                and the prevalence of wetlands, marshes, and peat soils.                   requirements to monitor the water quality at the outfalls
                Thirty-two percent of the soils in Harrison County are con-                of the structures to determine the effectiveness of the
                sidered unsuitable, and Jackson County has more 57% per-                   system.


















                                                                                 32





                              Zoning and Land Use Changes in Environmentally
                                                Sensitive Areas: Citizen Concerns

                                                                       Terese P. Collins
                                                              Gulf Islands Conservancy, Inc.


                  The Mississippi Gulf Coast is a unique and dynamic                  ordinances were drafted to regulate casino development.
                waterfront community that once was called the "Riviera of             These ordinances dealt with sign sizes, height requirements,
                the South." The coastline of Mississippi is approximately             parking lots, landscaping, setbacks, and other details. In
                70 miles long, with undeveloped baffier islands located just          spite of the ordinances, most casinos have asked for and
                south of the shoreline. The Bay of St. Louis is a large unde-         received variances to the zoning laws.
                veloped bay on the western end. Biloxi, is located on a                 At the state level, the Coastal Management Plan and the
                peninsula with a bay on its east and north sides. On the east         Wetlands Use Plan are charged with protecting wetlands
                end of Mississippi's coastline is the Pascagoula River, with          and directing development towards areas suitable for com-
                its large mouth and vast wetlands. The Mississippi Gulf               mercial and industrial development. However, developers
                Coast is a hidden treasure that is being discovered because           who do not have property in a zone designated for com-
                of the phenomenal growth and development in the last 3                mercial development continually request changes to the
                years. The development, however, is affecting the natural             Use Plan. They request that general-use districts be changed
                resources and beauty of the Coast.                                    to allow casinos. General-use districts are designed for res-
                  Achieving the balance between growth and preservation               idential and recreational activities.
                is difficult. People have been attracted to the area because            Casino developers seek that land because the property is
                coasU Mississippi has the natural resources to sustain the            less expensive, and casino resorts need large tracts of land.
                economy and offer a pleasant atmosphere for its residents.            State and local agencies, as well as federal agencies such as
                Now, the new casino industry has posed challenges for                 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, are not considering the
                those who appreciate the natural beauty of the coastline.             cumulative and secondary effects of these developments;
                The Mississippi Coastal Program is the state's plan that was          rather, they are looking at project-by-project development.
                implemented to balance the needs of development with the              This tunnel vision approach is hurting the Mississippi Gulf
                needs of the environment. Because of continued efforts to             Coast.
                obtain adjustments and changes to the Coastal Program, it               While the Mississippi Coast needs commercial develop-
                is beginning to leak like a sieve. And so are other local,            ment, a balanced approach to growth and development with
                state, and federal laws, which everyone thought would pro-            consideration of the natural environment is important. That
                tect our quality of life and control development.                     environment which sustains seafood, wildlife, fisheries,
                  The local zoning, state, and federal laws have not served           flora and fauna, and people has been responsible for attract-
                as adequate protection of the noncommercial areas, or the             ing residents and visitors for 300 years. It is time to address
                natural beauty and resources of Coastal Mississippi. After            the impacts of this tremendous growth and development
                lengthy debates and many public hearings, local zoning                before it is too late.





















                                                                                33






                                Concerned Citizens to Protect the Isles and Point

                                                                    Nonnie DeBardeleben
                                                                  Pass Christian, Mississippi


                  As plans were being made for casino development in                   designed to locate in commercial areas began expanding
                coastal Mississippi, each municipality was required to                 into the specific areas that made the Gulf Coast special.
                establish zones where the casinos could locate on the beach-           Those special areas are predominantly residential, recre-
                es. Although legalized gambling was no longer an option,               ational, or environmentally sensitive.
                municipalities could fail to designate areas for develop-                 In 1993, the Concerned Citizens was created to oppose a
                ment. Therefore, all the cities on the coast from Biloxi to            specific casino site in the midst of a residential area at
                Bay St. Louis decided on their own zones for development.              Henderson Point in a community that has existed since the
                It was assumed that the state and the federal regulations in           early 1800's. The position of the organization is not anti-
                the permitting process would limit the proliferation of                development. However, the organization does oppose
                development outside these established commercial areas.                unsuitable commercial development in areas designated
                  Initially, the casinos did locate in the designated areas.           general use by the Coastal Use Plan. The problem faced by
                However, as the availability of commercial and industrial              Henderson Point citizens is the possible granting of prece-
                areas have declined, the more recent operators have begun              dent-setting variances and permits. Although the casino
                to seek casino sites and site approval in areas that have been         developer in the area withdrew the application, and
                considered appropriate only for residences, marshes, wet-              Henderson Point was unofficially declared an "unsuitable
                lands, and estuaries - the areas that have made the                    site," there is no final legal designation to protect
                Mississippi Gulf Coast unique. These specific locations                Henderson Point.
                were naively assumed by citizens to be either unappealing                 The organization will continue to object through the per-
                sites for casino development or areas that would be protect-           mitting process to any precedent-setting permit that could
                ed by the Coastal Use Plan. In the Bay St. Louis area, four            adversely affect Henderson Point. In hearing after hearing,
                casino permit applications are pending. Only one of the four           developers initiate more innovative and creative methods to
                permit applications is in an area with a commercial desig-             circumvent the specific issues that the Coastal Zone Plan
                nation. The entire rim of Bay St. Louis is designated gener-           was created to protect. Communities considering legislating
                al use for residences, estuaries, or marshes.                          this industry should consider a method that will allow a
                  Localities considering the development of the casino                 commission to deny a permit without being constantly chal-
                industry in their areas should formulate a way to both pre-            lenged.
                serve the uniqueness of the communities and to allow the                  In Mississippi, the Gaming Commission has the authori-
                industry to thrive at the same time. When enabling legisla-            ty to deem a site unsuitable. However, the Commission has
                tion is drafted, the rights of the individual citizens and resi-       only exercised that authority once. In addition, the Gaming
                dents should be considered. Residents of Mississippi con-              Commission does not consider the Coastal Use Plan in des-
                cerned about the environment have discovered that the                  ignating a site for a casino, in spite of the fact that the
                power of casino money has prevailed. No agency will                    Coastal Use Plan has legal status. It would seem logical that
                accept the responsibility for defining the circumstances that          an allocation in an area that is designated a preservation
                warTant a variance. Instead, permits and variances are                 area in the Coastal Use Plan should constitute an automatic
                issued one-by-one in a piecemeal manner, without consid-               denial of site approval by the Gaming Commission.
                eration of the overall cumulative effects of the industry on           However, the Gaming Commission addresses only the
                the future of the Gulf Coast. With one permit and one vari-            legality of the site according to gaming law.
                ance, minimal long-term effects occur. However, the cumu-                 Communities considering gaming legislation should
                lative effects of all the permits, in conjunction with the sec-        think of the future. Evaluating licensing procedures and
                ondary effects of the upland's development, reveal an infra-           actual gaming legislation is not adequate. Communities
                structure under stress.                                                should take the necessary steps to ensure that the citizens'
                  Groups like the Concerned Citizens to Protect the Isles              quality of life and the cultural heritage of the area will be
                and Point organized because the industry that first was                preserved.









                                                                                 34





                                                     Cumulative Impact Concerns

                                                                           Bob Dreher
                                                              Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund


                  Beyond the theoretical concern about the effects of the              ing proposed permits for these areas, the Corps of
               growth and development of the casino industry on the qual-              Engineers has limited its evaluation to the effects of the
               ity of life and natural values, a legal matter looms. A law-            dredging in locating a barge and the effect of any fill that
               suit is pending in the Federal District Court for the District          may be involved. That has been the extent of the involve-
               of Columbia. The litigation focuses on the use changes and              ment of the Corps of Engineers.
               siting of casino facilities in unsuitable residential neighbor-           The issues not investigated by the Corps of Engineers are
               hoods and undeveloped areas.                                            the basis for litigation. The Corps has not focused on cumu-
                  The Environmental Protection Agency has stated that the              lative effects of future projects. Instead, the Corps has con-
               cumulative effects of casino development along the                      sidered only the loss of wetlands that has occurred from
               Mississippi Gulf Coast are profound and will forever                    existing casinos. With each individual casino, the Corps has
               change the Mississippi Gulf Coast. One casino in particular             ruled that each individual impact has been minimal.
               wants to locate north of the Bay of Biloxi in an area that is           Citizens fear that areas of high wetland value will be devel-
               closer to I- 10 to attract business from travelers. To locate in        oped later and will cause incredible damage to the environ-
               that area means using a site that is in a general use district,         ment. In the federal lawsuit, which challenges the first per-
               involving wetlands and a pristine area.                                 mit to be issued for a Back Bay area, the Corps asserts that
                  The agency responsible for studying the environmental                casinos pose no threatening cumulative effect to the natural
               effects of issuing 404 Permits for casinos is the Corps of              environment. The Corps also admitted that it did not con-
               Engineers. Because some coastal dredging is necessary in                sider future casino projects or secondary impacts, like golf
               placing barges in their sites, this body has issued 404                 courses and hotels. The federal lawsuit challenges the
               Permits for each casino in existence. The dredging effects              Corps' failure to consider these impacts. The natural
               of the casinos along the established waterfronts may be                 aspects threatened include water quality, migratory birds,
               minimal. Although the commercial use changed, the current               and fishery values   (95% of the commercial fishery of the
               commercial waterfront had limited natural values.                       Gulf Coast originates in nursery areas in coastal estuary
               However, even the limited values deserve protection. In                 wetlands). Careful planning could prevent damage to the
               contrast, the Back Bay of Biloxi and the Bay of St. Louis               natural environment.
               are relatively pristine areas. In issuing permits and evaluat-




























                                                                                 35





                  Wastewater Treatment Infrastructure Expansion Requirements

                                                                            Baxter Wade
                                                                         Executive Director
                                                    Harrison County Wastewater Management District


                    The Harrison County Wastewater Management District                   Furthermore, oil and grease clog up sewer lines in an
                is divided into five service areas. Each service area includes           attempt to reach the plant. The area has a grease trap ordi-
                a wastewater treatment plant. Seventy-five percent of the                nance. In addition, it has a sewer use ordinance. The limit
                casinos in Harrison County are in the service area of the                on the sewer use ordinance of BOD is 400 milligrams per
                Keegan Bayou Plant, one of the smallest plants in the coun-              liter. The oil and grease limit is 150 milligrams per liter.
                ty and the second oldest plant in the state. Initially, the casi-        The first site testing of a casino revealed at least a 26,629-
                nos were small riverboat operations. Then, the Grand                     milligram count per liter of oil and grease. The laboratory
                Casino in Gulfport opened with dimensions the size of a                  quit tabulating at that point. The BOD was 4,700. The TSS
                football field and a wastewater discharge of a quarter of a              was 4,500. Of all the casinos tested, the lowest BOD count
                million gallons a day. The need for enlarging the waste-                 was 1,600; the lowest TSS count was 1,210. BOD limits
                water treatment system was obvious.                                      should be 400, and oil and grease limits should be 150.
                    The estimated cost of developing the first stage of enlarg-            One solution to the problems was the development of a
                ing the system was $40 million. The fact that the casinos are            "grease police department" to check to see that industries
                dockside and tied to the county only by ropes caused appre-              do not exceed the oil and grease limit of 150. If the limit is
                hension in allocating funds to accommodate an industry                   violated, a fine is levied. Because BOD levels are harder to
                that could easily leave. However, after a 2-year period, the             control, a deal was made with most food establishments,
                $40 million was budgeted for expansion of the system.                    including grocery stores, restaurants, and casinos, to allow
                    The casino industry is accompanied by ancillary devel-               establishments to buy higher limits of BOD not to exceed
                opment associated with the casinos. Long Beach, Pass                     1,000 milligrams per liter. These surcharges offered latitude
                Christian, and Gulfport and the area north of it are growing             without abuse. Fines and surcharges exceeding $168,000
                rapidly. Businesses that offer services to the casino industry           collected have helped to operate the plants and keep them in
                are responsible for much of the growth. The additional                   compliance with regulations until larger facilities could be
                growth, obviously, adds to the need for wastewater treat-                built.
                ment expansion.                                                            This small Keegan Bayou treatment plant designed to
                    Treatment of casino waste poses some problems. Along                 treat 3.4 million gallons a day is actually treating 5 million
                with volume, the strength of the waste is a factor.                      gallons a day. Seven operating casinos discharge waste into
                Overloading a wastewater treatment plant is caused by too                this plant.
                much wastewater or wastewater that is too strong. Strength                 In an effort to keep up with the growth, the wastewater
                is measured in terms of BOD (biological oxygen demand).                  treatment plants will be expanded as quickly as possible.
                The average household contributes wastewater measuring                   Construction will begin on the Keegan Bayou Plant in July.
                approximately 130 in BOD. The presence of the large casi-                The contractor will receive $2,500 a day for every day that
                nos caused the BOD loading to go up, and problems                        the project is finished ahead of schedule. In contrast, the
                occurred with the collection system delivering the waste-                same amount will be deducted daily if the project is not
                water to the treatment plants.                                           completed on time. The growth in the economy is a result
                    BOD, suspended solids, and oil and grease affect the                 of the gaming industry. Wastewater treatment plants will
                function of the system. Oil and grease cannot be treated.                keep up with the growth of the Gulf Coast.















                                                                                   36





                          Engineering Solutions to Environmental Perturbations
                                  Associated with Dockside Casino Development

                                                                        Larry Lewis
                                                                 Brown and Mitchell, Inc.


                  The engineering and environmental consulting firm of                 Dredging and maintenance dredging can also affect
               Brown and Mitchell, Inc. has worked with casinos along the           water quality. Some dredged material may not be suitable
               Gulf Coast since 1992. The involvement of the firm has               for open water disposal and upland disposal is required.
               varied, depending on the issues associated with the dock-            Casinos have minimized dredging to reduce the cost of
               side casino development. In some case, the firm has pro-             upland disposal and designed vessels that do not require
               vided both the civil engineering and environmental consult-          deep water.
               ing services; in other instances, the firm has been involved            To date, casinos have caused minimal impacts to wet-
               with only the environmental issues.                                  lands. Sites have been selected in areas that avoid wetlands,
                  When considering the effects of dockside gaming on the            and special designs have been used to avoid filling of shal-
               environment, one must consider both the living and nonliv-           low water bottoms. Filling of water bottoms has been
               ing parts of the environment. One must also evaluate the             avoided by constructing pile-supported structures that go
               effects in terms of primary or secondary impacts and the             over the water without filling the water or water bottoms.
               duration of impacts (i.e. short-term, long-term, or cumula-             Other measures to reduce impacts to the coastal environ-
               tive).                                                               ment include landscaping features, traffic safety features,
                  Based on recent assessment of the environmental pertur-           and design features that complement the natural scenic
               bations associated with dockside casinos, it appears that the        quality of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. One of the most inter-
               major impacts relate to water quality. The solutions to              esting approaches to protecting the natural environment
               potential water quality impacts as well as solutions to other        was an effort to protect several live oak trees that would
               impacts are discussed here.                                          have been otherwise destroyed at a casino hotel site. The
                  Because casinos require large areas of impervious sur-            trees, which were more than 150 years old, were carefully
               faces for parking and because of the high annual rainfall on         prepared and moved by an urban landscape consultant to
               the Coast, stormwater management features are extremely              new more protected areas of the site.
               critical. Engineering designs have been developed to detain             It is obvious that dockside casinos can cause impacts to
               and retain stormwater runoff, as well as incorporating               the coastal environment. To date, care has been taken to
               impervious pavers in selected areas of the site to provide for       avoid major impacts to the environment. Impacts have also
               site drainage. Grassed swales and raised inlets have been            been limited to minor impacts because most of the sites
               effective in providing for detention and natural treatment of        developed to date are sites that have been previously devel-
               stormwater. In some cases, stormwater has been routed to             oped. As the casino sites continue to grow, and as previ-
               natural depressions and ponds to allow for treatment and             ously undeveloped sites are developed, the impacts will
               storage of stormwater prior to discharge. Some of the ponds          increase. While current regulations appear to be adequate to
               have been vegetated with emergent aquatic plants and dec-            require certain environmental safeguards, consideration
               orative fountains have been installed to provide additional          should be given to developing more comprehensive guide-
               treatment.                                                           lines to assist casinos in preparing site plans.


















                                                                              37





                          Highway and Transportation Needs in Coastal Mississippi

                                                        Mississippi State Senator William G. Hewes, III
                                                                       District 49 - Harrison County


                     The introduction of the gaming industry in Mississippi                               Table 1. Mississippi Gulf Coast Traffic Counts.
                  has affected the infrastructure of each community where                                                                         1991 1"4         Increase
                  casinos are located. Highway and transportation needs are                      Harrison County - US 90 @ Jackson Co. Line 22,130       37,000    67%
                  not unique to the Mississippi coastal communities. Both                        Harrison County - US 49 @ Stone Co. Line 10,460         13,450    29%
                  east and west and north and south transfers are needed.                        Harrison County - 1- 10, 2 mi. E. of US 49       34,730 42,210    22%
                  Challenges exist in relieving the pressure of heavy traffic,                   Hancock County - 1-10 @ Louisiana Line           24,690 32,000    30%
                  not only in securing funding but also in time needed for                       Jackson County - I- 10 @ Alabama Line            25,830 33,480    30%
                  completion of these big projects.
                     In order to relieve the pressure from U.S. Highway 90
                  and Pass Road, another east-west corridor is needed (Figure                    Although, the accidents rates on the coast are not as high as
                  1). Some investigation has focused on the area near the rail-                  those in the Tunica area, numbers of Coast accidents have
                  road line that would span the entire stretch of the coast.                     risen (Table 2). The infrastructure on the. Coast is better
                  Problems involve funding and rights-of-way with the rail-                      developed than that of the other growth areas.
                  road. A north-south route, to be tied in with Interstate 10, is                   Three years ago the Legislature decided to focus on roads
                  needed to relieve traffic pressure and to serve as an evacu-                   in high impact areas instead of following the routine road
                  ation route. Three north-south corridors were presented to                     program. The high impact areas are Tunica, Philadelphia,
                  the last legislative session. Only one was approved and con-                   and the Gulf Coast. The funds to these areas will be approx-
                  struction will begin soon.                                                     imately $325 million in bonds with an appropriation of
                     The rate of growth in counties with gaming has been phe-                    approximately $32 million a year for a 7-year period.
                  nomenal. In 1991, a traffic count on a road that is the direct                    In addition, the Legislature has authorized the
                  route through Desoto County from Memphis to Tunica was                         Department of Transportation to undertake a study to deter-
                  380; in 1994, 4,000. The count increased by 953%.                              mine a number of issues with regard to future growth. In
                  Consequently, accident rates on all the congested roads                        November, the Department of Transportation must have
                  have risen dramatically.                                                       prioritized the areas of greatest need for road construction.
                     On the Coast, most         statistics deal with Highway 49,                 The study will consider evacuation routes, traffic conges-
                  Highway 90, or Interstate 10 in the counties of Hancock,                       tion, accident rates, alternative modes of travel, and exist-
                  Harrison, and Jackson (Table 1). The increase in traffic                       ing intermodal and commercial travel structure (road, rail,
                  coming from Louisiana and Alabama is significant.                              air, and water).
                                                                                                    Considering tourism-oriented and gaming-related activi-
                                                                                                 ties, it is not surprising that coastal roads are heavily trav-
                                                                                                 eled. Though it will be expensive and will take time, it is
                                                 49                   George                     important to meet the challenge and invest as quickly as
                                                S ne                                             possible in efficient and safe roadways.
                                 r
                          59                 Ha         67             Jackson
                                                                                                        Table 2. Mississippi Gulf Coast Traffic Accidents.
                            43
                        Hanco                                      10                                                                             1991   1"4       Increase
                                                                                                 Hancock County - US 90                           181      266     47%
                                                                                  0              Hancock County - I- 10                            88       78     -11%
                                                                                                 Harrison County - US 49                          637    1,019     60%
                                                                                                 Harrison County - I- 10                          297      465     57%
                  Figure 1. Counties impacted by casino traffic on Mississippi                   Jackson County - US 90                           859    1,230     43%
                  Gulf Coast (Mississippi Gulf Coast Gaming Program).                            Jackson County - I- 10                           163      435     167%







                                                                                           38






               SESSION 111. DEVELOPING THEIIBIG PICTURE PARADIGM" -
                                       MOVINGAwAYFROM INCREMENTAL MANAGEMENT


                              Methodologies and Mechanisms for Management
                                 of Cumulative Coastal Environmental Impacts

                                                                     Barbara Vestal
                                                      Associate Director, Marine Law Institute
                                                         University of Maine School of Law


                 Three factors distinguish Mississippi's dockside casino          only of more casinos, but also the impacts of more hotels,
               gaming development from most other coastal development.            more retail malls, and widened roads associated with that
               The first factor is the speed at which development is occur-       casino development.
               ring. The magnitude of the funds involved is the second dis-          There are at least four reasons why is this a good time to
               tinguishing factor. For example, in Mississippi, the tide-         stop and look at the big picture. First, very simply, there is
               lands lease fee for a casino may be $200,000 to $700,000           still time to develop a management strategy. It is not too
               per year. In other states, the annual lease fee for a marina       late.
               may be in the range of $3,000. The third unusual factor is            Second, the easy sites have already been developed. The
               the high degree of apparent consensus among residents that         old seafood processing sites and already disturbed water-
               casino development has been good; it is generally perceived        front parcels have been redeveloped. Casinos are now eye-
               as a major catalyst for economic development in a former-          ing sites on the Back Bay, an area of residences and previ-
               ly depressed area.                                                 ously undisturbed wetlands. These wetland sites present
                 Despite the apparent success to date, it is important to         much more difficult environmental issues, and conscious
               focus on where Mississippi should go from here. If 29 casi-        decisions need to be made about whether casinos and relat-
               nos are good, does it necessarily follow that 35 or 40 or 50       ed development should be permitted on those sites.
               are necessarily better? Some local officials suggest coastal          The third reason for doing the analysis now is that this
               Mississippi has yet to see the upside limit; they envision         may be a politically opportune time to make a midcourse
               growth for another 10 or more years. I would like to sound         correction in the state legislation. The enabling legislation
               a more cautionary note. It seems to me that the people of          set up a very difficult situation by declaring casinos to be
               coastal Mississippi should be wrestling with very difficult        water-dependent uses and requiring them to be water-based.
               issues of sustainability and the impacts of incremental            It funneled them into the most environmentally sensitive
               growth.                                                            lands in the state. And apparently that was done for no good
                 There are numerous examples of rapid growth destroying           policy reason except that it was an incremental drafting
               the very thing that brought people there in the first place.       change, from "underway-making way" to "stationary but
               But experience over the last 20 years has taught us that gov-      still floating."
               emments can put reasonable limits on growth.                          It may be possible to a-mend the law so that future casi-
                 So the critical question is when will casino development         nos would no longer be considered water-dependent uses
               become too much of a good thing? And more importantly,             and could no longer be water-based. New casinos would
               how does one identify that point before it has already been        have to be constructed on less environmentally fragile
               exceeded? How can casino growth be managed to reap the             uplands. Of course, a whole new set of environmental reg-
               economic benefits while protecting a unique cultural her-          ulations would be required to identify which uplands would
               itage such as the traditional waterfront industries. And how       be appropriate. Tightening the siting regulations in this way
               can the environment be protected from significant degrada-         might hold a certain attraction for at least two groups: citi-
               tion? Finding the right balance is complicated by the fact         zens concerned about the environment and casino industry
               that traditional water-dependent uses, cultural heritage, and      representatives who are concerned about oversaturation of
               environmental quality are typically not adequately protect-        the market.
               ed if one relies only on the private market to make resource          Finally, this is an opportune time to stop and analyze
               allocation decisions.                                              cumulative impacts because a little planning now may help
                 Mississippi's casino gambling is now at a critical junc-         preserve local character. Mississippi and Nevada may be
               ture. This is the time to undertake an analysis of the cumu-       well ahead of the curve now, but as other states see this suc-
               lative impacts. This analysis should assess the impacts not        cess and try to emulate it, keeping market share may depend


                                                                             39







                on retaining the local character and the natural beauty of the         2 and 4). Some scientists try to define cumulative effects so
                place. If casinos all look alike, patrons will be inclined to go       they are limited to only Pathways 2 and 4; environmental
                to the one closest to them. Mississippi may need to plan to            legislation typically does not make that distinction. For reg-
                retain the uniqueness of its coastal area to keep a competi-           ulatory and management purposes, all four of these path-
                tive advantage for its casinos.                                        ways can result in cumulative effects.
                   Thus, for all of these reasons, it is important to analyze             Because of a concern about continuing environmental
                and manage cumulative impacts of continued casino-fueled               degradation, practitioners are increasingly stressing consid-
                development. One might question the precise definition of              eration of cumulative impacts. For the last 20 or more years,
                "cumulative impacts." There are actually many slightly dif-            major development has been reviewed using a site-specific
                ferent variations, depending on the context. For this paper,           approach, with the assumption that if the impacts on that
                cumulative impacts are defined as "the overall impact on               single site were not too bad, the development would be
                the environment which results from the incremental                     acceptable. As a society, we have been willing to accept a
                impacts of various activities when added to other past, pre-           little degradation at each site, and generally have not looked
                sent, and reasonably foreseeable future actions." So cumu-             beyond the site to see how that "minimal" impact from one
                lative impact assessment evaluates a combination of devel-             site combines with "minimal" impacts on other sites in the
                opment activities to determine what impact they have on the            ecosystem. We have also accepted the idea that develop-
                environment when one considers the development that has                ment below a certain threshold did not need to be reviewed
                already taken place, development that is taking place simul-           because the impacts would be minimal, without really
                taneously, and development that it is reasonable to believe            thinking about how all those minimal impacts might com-
                will take place in the future.                                         bine to affect ecosystem function.
                   Figure 1, from the Canadian Environmental Assessment                   But many environmental managers have concluded that
                Research Council, illustrates different ways to experience             this approach is fundamentally flawed. Numerous small
                cumulative effects. They can be impacts from one process               actions and choices can together gradually alter the struc-
                (e.g., an increase in impervious surface area from the con-            ture and function of an ecosystem. It is insufficient to look
                struction of one single family home after another) or from             only at direct, site-specific impacts. We cannot ignore how
                two or more processes affecting the same resource (e.g.,               all of those "minimal" losses combine to affect the ecosys-
                increase in impervious surface area from construction of a             tem as a whole.
                marina parking lot; shading of aquatic vegetation from con-               The solution is not to do away with traditional environ-
                struction of a dock; habitat disturbance from increased                mental assessment of direct impacts but rather to broaden
                recreational use of waters; propeller dredging of shallow              the assessment to consider cumulative impacts as well.
                bottom; discharges into the water from recreational boats).            Environmental managers have to look at impacts over time
                   The impacts can be simply additive if they are so close in          - past, present, and future - because the environment is a
                time or in space that the effects overlap (Pathways I and 3).          dynamic system. The scope of analysis must expand
                Or there can be magnification or synergistic relationships             beyond the immediate site to consider the effects over a
                where the actions interact to produce something more com-              larger ecological community. And most critically, instead
                plex than simple addition of incremental impacts (Pathways             of focusing on the proposed disturbance, the assessment
                                                                                       should focus on how the proposed action will affect valued
                                                                                       environmental functions. Finally, the process should not
                     PATHWAY I      PATHWAY 2       PATHWAY 3      PATHWAY 4           stop with assessment; managers must develop a manage-
                                                                                       ment plan based on the assessment.
                                                                                          These concepts are summarized in Figure 2, a conceptu-
                                                                                       al framework developed by Evan Vlachos in which "new
                                                                                       emphasis" corresponds to cumulative impact assessment.
                                                                                       Instead of focusing on a species, cumulative impact assess-
                                                                                       ment looks at the ecosystem. Instead of being a snapshot at
                        PERSISTENT DDITIONS            COMPOUNDING EFFECTS             one time, it looks at how the system evolves over time. And
                         FROM ONE PROCESS         INVOLVING TWO OR MORE PROCESSES      instead of being segmented, it attempts to take a holistic
                                                                                       approach. Cumulative impact assessment is not intended to
                                                                                       replace analysis of direct impacts, but is intended to sup-
                                       PATHWAYS THAT LEAD TO                           plement it so it more fully considers the full range of envi-
                                         CUMULATIVE EFFECTS                            ronmental impacts. Instead of just inventorying how many
                                                                                       of a particular species will be affected on the site at the time
                Figure 1. Basic functional pathways that contribute to cumu-           of construction, curnulative impact assessment looks at the
                lative effects. Source: Peterson, et al., Cumulative Assessment        broader picture. It requires a determination of how the site
                in Canada: An Agenda for Action and Research, Canadian                 fits into the larger ecosystem. The managers must assess
                Environmental Research Council 5 (1987).                               whether the proposed development is likely to affect larger-


                                                                                  40






                                          Procedures                     New Emphasis                         where and how to draw the line. They are looking at con-
                                          ional)                          (Alternative)                       cepts such as requiring common community piers, denying
                                                                                                              a private pier application if it is within a certain distance of
                            Species oriented                         Comm u n ity /ecosystem-                 a public facility, or revising construction standards to
                                                                     oriented                                 require mesh construction to minimize shading.
                            Linea r/extra po lative                  Non-linear/nonmonotonic                     Different state and federal agencies have developed their
                       6    Causal                                   Interactive/mutual                       own guidance on how to consider and minimize cumulative
                                                                     causation                                effects in a host of development contexts. In general, influ-
                       0    Individua)istic/segmented           &    Holistic/integrative                     encing decisions on the grounds of adverse cumulative
                       0    "Snapshot"                          0    Evolvingidynamic                         impacts seems to be most difficult for agencies like the U.S.
                       0    Hierarchical/classificational       -    Contextural/relevance                    Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine
                                                                     selective                                Fisheries Service, perhaps in part because those agencies
                            Structural                          0    Functional
                                                                                                              are merely recommendatory to the actual permitting
                                                                                                              agency, the Army Corps of Engineers. These federal permit
                   Figure 2. Conceptual frameworks                   for impact assessment.                   reviewers tend to be operating in a vacuum; it may not "feel
                   Source: Vlachos, Assessing long-range cumulative impacts. In                               right" to allow continued degradation with each site, but
                   Environmental Impact Assessment, Technology Assessment
                   and Risk Analysis, 68 (1985).                                                              they don't really have any institutional help with drawing
                                                                                                              the line.
                                                                                                                 More successful initiatives have been developed by state
                                                                                                              coastal programs because they can approach these ques-
                   scale ecological processes, particularly when one takes into                               tions from a prior planning, management, and goal-setting
                   consideration development that has already taken place,                                    perspective rather than solely from a regulatory perspective.
                   current development, and development likely to follow. It                                  For example, New York State's Coastal Management
                   requires a determination of which ecological functions are                                 Program has a program for advanced designation of areas of
                   most valued by society (e.g., migratory bird habitat, water                                significant coastal fish and wildlife habitat using an ecosys-
                   quality suitable for recreational activities, commercially                                 tem analysis to identify important habitat areas. The desig-
                   important fisheries, biological diversity) and how this pro-                               nation includes a supporting narrative, which identifies
                   posed development might affect those valued functions.                                     actions that, if allowed, would degrade the habitat, such as
                       An example may make this more concrete. In New                                         construction of walkways and docks. The first set of habitat
                   England, a couple of federal resource agencies and some                                    designations was approved as part of the Coastal
                   state coastal programs have -discussed the need to apply                                   Management Program, thus allowing the state to review
                   heightened cumulative impact analysis and management                                       federal actions, such as Corps permits, for consistency with
                   strategies to review elevated walkways and piers on vege-                                  the state program. In one instance, a private owner proposed
                   tated wetlands. These agencies are concerned about a pro-                                  to construct a 795-foot elevated walkway and dock in a des-
                   liferation of large docks (some proposed to be up to 800 feet                              ignated habitat. It received all federal and state permits, but
                   long) that serve - individual homes. Instead of allowing                                   the coastal program successfully used federal consistency
                   dredging to obtain a sufficient depth of water, some regula-                               provisions to object. The preplanning to designate impor-
                   tors had fallen into a pattern of approving raised structures                              tant habitats and identify the type of development that
                   over wetlands to span seaward to reach a depth of water suf-                               would cause unacceptable effects was critical to the state's
                   ficient to dock a boat. When evaluated on a site-specific                                  ability to draw the line against continued incremental
                   basis, these applications were generally approved because                                  degradation.
                   they were found to have only a minimal impact. But now                                        Cumulative impact assessment is not relevant only to
                   that many have been built and it is foreseeable that more                                  multiple small developments. It is also commonly required
                   will follow, some regulators are beginning to worry about                                  for multiple large projects such as multiple hydropower
                   cumulative adverse impacts. These new docks present par-                                   projects in a single watershed, issuance of multiple oil and
                   ticular problems because most of the sites adjacent to open                                gas leases, and the construction of multiple large-scale
                   water have already been developed. These new sites tend to                                 recreational facilities, such as marinas, in a relatively small
                   be on marshes, a significant distance from open water. The                                 area.
                   possible cumulative effects of concern to reviewers include:                                  Thus, in concept, cumulative impact analysis is an
                   shading of submerged aquatic vegetation, leading to dimin-                                 important supplement to traditional environmental impact
                   ished density of the vegetation, erosion, and loss of func-                                analysis. The much harder question is whether it actually
                   tion; habitat fragmentation, particularly affecting migratory                              can be done. In making the transition from theory to prac-
                   waterfowl that need an unobstructed distance to land or take                               tice, there is a very real danger of getting overwhelmed by
                   off-, increased human disturbance; and enhanced access for                                 the interconnections and range of issues to be considered.
                   predators.                                                                                    The Marine Law Institute, working with the National
                       These regulators have not reached any easy answers on                                  Marine Fisheries Service, with funding from NOAA's


                                                                                                       41





                 Coastal Ocean Program, studied this question over the last                    2. Decision Factors
                 couple of years. We concluded that some agencies have
                 made significant gains in the way they assess and manage                      . . . In evaluating the public interest and making
                 incremental impacts. To be sure, there is no single method-                   recommendations, PMR shall consider and make
                 ology or set of methodologies that will work in all situa-                    findings on the following:
                 tions. But there are evolving methodologies that can serve                    (a-c omitted)
                 as models, and gradual progress is being made on several                      d. Precedent setting effects and existing or
                 fronts.                                                                       potential cumulative impacts of similar or other
                    Cumulative impact assessment shouldn't be such a for-                      development in the project area;
                 eign concept. Many agencies already have the express legal
                 authority to consider cumulative environmental impacts in                     e. The extent to which the proposed activity
                 making permitting decisions. In fact, some are required to                    would directly and indirectly affect the biological
                 consider cumulative impacts. These agencies include the                       integrity and productivity of the coastal wetlands
                 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, agencies that are preparing                     communities and ecosystems;
                 Environmental Impact Statements, and many state coastal                       f. The full extent of the project, including impacts
                 permitting programs. However, despite that authority, many                    induced by the project, both intended and
                 of these agencies have limited their focus to direct, site-spe-               unintended but reasonably anticipated;
                 cific impacts, and given only very cursory review to cumu-
                 lative impacts.                                                               (g-m. omitted)
                    Within states, cumulative impacts are considered a few                  Figure 3. Misssissippi's coastal wetlands cumulative impact
                 different ways. Approximately nine state wetlands permit-                  standard. (Mississippi Coastal Wetlands Protection Law,
                 ting programs require some consideration of incremental                    Rules, Regulations, Guidelines, and Procedures, Section 2,
                 impacts. Florida is probably the leader in its wetlands legis-             Part I.E.2 Basic for Decisions.)
                 lation. Florida has frequently used cumulative impacts as a
                 ground for permit denial or for imposing conditions on
                 approval. That state has detailed guidance on types of pro-
                 jects to be included in the cumulative impacts assessment,
                 applicable geographic boundaries, and how to project rea-
                 sonably expected development.                                              sideration of cumulative impacts is the 404 Water Quality
                    Mississippi is probably more typical in its provisions.                 Program administered by the Army Corps of Engineers.
                 Mississippi's Coastal Wetlands Protection Act establishes                  The 404 Guidelines (Figures 4 & 5) state the Corps will
                 protections for coastal wetlands and their ecosystems, to                  allow no discharge into the water unless there will be no
                 preserve them in a natural state, "except where a higher                   unacceptable adverse impact, either individually or cumula-
                 public interest consistent with public trust purposes would                tively. The Guidelines acknowledge that cumulative effects
                 be served" (Miss. Code Ann. 49-27-3). The regulations                      of small effects can result in a major impairment and they
                 specify factors to be considered in reviewing permit appli-                place an affirmative duty on the Corps to gather information
                 cations. Figure 3 is an excerpt from that provision. One of                and consider it in permit decisions. Additional regulatory
                 13 factors to be considered is "precedent- setting effects and             guidance letters also address consideration of cumulative
                 existing or potential cumulative impacts of similar or other               impacts in permit decisions. However, various studies have
                 development in the project area." It also requires consider-               concluded that despite the Corps' legislative mandate, it
                 ation of "the full extent of the project, including impacts                rarely undertakes more than a very cursory cumulative
                 induced by the project, both intended and unintended but                   impacts assessment. There is some regional variation.
                 reasonably anticipated." Even though Mississippi has these                    In a few instances, the Corps has been aggressive in
                 provisions, like many other states, if there is no additional              using its cumulative impacts authority to deny a permit, and
                 guidance on how to apply these provisions, their use tends                 it has been upheld. One such example involved the Fox
                 to be cursory at best.                                                     River in Illinois, an area already extensively developed for
                    Some states require consideration of cumulative environ-                recreational boating. Fox Bay Partners proposed a 512-boat
                 mental effects through mini-NEPA statutes; incremental                     recreational marina, which would include a health club,
                 effects are considered in determining whether a state envi-                restaurant, and parking facility.
                 ronmental impact statement is required, and in evaluating                     The Corps denied the permit, finding there would be a
                 those impacts. California, New York, and Washington State                  significant, cumulative adverse impact. It considered mari-
                 take this approach. Many more states use nonwetlands                       nas, boat launches, and private boat docks already permit-
                 coastal development permitting or statewide comprehen- .                   ted, and similar foreseeable future projects. Its principal
                 sive planning systems to get a handle on cumulative                        concern was the increase in large power boat traffic and the
                 impacts.                                                                   likely effects on the aquatic ecosystem. The Corps was
                    One of the primary federal programs that requires con-                  upheld on appeal. Its findings were buttressed by an EIS,


                                                                                      42








                                                                                            (g) Determination of cumulative effects on the aquatic
                   [d]redged or fill material should not be discharged                      ecosystem.
                   into the aquatic ecosystem, unless it can be                             (2) Cumulative effects ... should be predicted to
                   demonstrated that such a discharge will not have an                      the extent reasonable and practical. The permitting
                                                                                            authority shall collect information and solicit
                   unacceptable adverse impact either individually or                       information from other sources about the cumulative
                   in combination with known and/or probable                                impacts on the aquatic ecosystem. This information
                                                                                            shall be documented and considered during the
                   impacts of other activities affecting the ecosystem                      decision-making process concerning the evaluation of
                   of concern.                                                              individual permit applications, the issuance of a
                                                                                            General permit, and monitoring and enforcement of
               40 C. F. R. ï¿½ 230. 1 (c) (1993).                                             existing permits.
                                                                                            40 C.F.R. ï¿½ 230.11(g) (1993).

               Figure 4. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 404 Guidelines deal-           Figure 5. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 404 Guidelines on
               ing with discharge into the water.                                    determination of cumulative effects.



               which found that the existing boating activity was "too               to help with setting priorities on how to use limited plan-
               overpowering" for the aquatic environment. About the                  ning and review resources.
               same time as the decision, the Corp     s adopted a policy of                A U.S. Fish and Wildlife methodology is more of an
               "no net gain," allowing new boating facilities only as older          ongoing process, which uses sophisticated models and
               facilities for a similar number of boats were removed from            multi-agency collaboration, such as in the Chesapeake Bay
               the area. This is a relatively rare instance, but shows that          Estuary. Another model, developed by a group of wetland
               courts will uphold denials based on cumulative impacts if             scientists in Louisiana, uses a landscape conservation
               they are well documented.                                             approach to reverse the incremental decline in wetland
                   If state and federal agencies are mandated to consider
               cumulative effects, one might wonder why they tend not to
               do it. One of the major problems is that it is very difficult
               to do through end-of-the-line permit decisions. Most envi-
               ronmental degradation is gradual; there is no straw that                     0 the absence of practical, widely-accepted
               causes the system to crash. Scientists and permit reviewers                  methodologies
               cannot draw arbitrary lines; the community needs to estab-
               lish minimum standards and goals through resource-                           0limited scientific knowledge about causes
               focused comprehensive planning. Then permit decisions                        and effects
               can be made that are consistent with those goals.
                   In additiori to a misplaced reliance on permitting, our sur-
               vey of environmental managers identified several other                       0a narrowed interpretation of agency
               areas that present problems for cumulative impact assess-                    responsibilities
               ment and management (Figure 6). The first problem they
               identified is an absence of easy-to-use, widely accepted                     *the absence of socially-established goals for
               methodologies. Such a simple solution will probably never                    the resource
               be achievable. Instead managers have to customize from
               several models that vary, depending upon the agency man-                     ejurisdictional constraints which impose
               date, agency resources, time constraints and goals. For                      inappropriate geographic and subject-matter
               example, some models are designed to consider cumulative                     limits on impact assessment and man-
               impacts in permit reviews when the reviewer has to com-                      agement
               ment within 30 days and can only use a site visit and exist-
               ing data.                                                                    uncertainty about the defensibility or
                   Another model, EPA's synoptic approach, is designed to                   fairness
               use existing data to produce maps that allow a comparison
               of relative environmental risks of allowing development in            Figure 6. Historic difficulties of considering cumulative
               one landscape subunit as opposed to another; it is designed           impacts in regulatory reviews.


                                                                               43







                function of bottomland hardwood forested wetlands by                  It stresses the need for continued movement in the fight
                securing corridors to reconnect forest patches.                       direction; it emphasizes the importance of not allowing any
                   There are no simple solutions; environmental managers              movement away from the goal, even though it might be
                have to use creativity to determine how they can reach their          minimal.
                goals with available resources. But much recent work has                 A fifth problem facing environmental managers is inap-
                been done which can provide some guidance.                            propriate jurisdictional constraints. These can be geograph-
                   The second problem identified by environmental man-                ic constraints, such as political boundaries, which have no
                agers is limited scientific knowledge about causes and                relationship to ecosystem boundaries. Or they can be juris-
                effects. There is always a gap between what scientists will           dictional constraints; for example, the agency may only be
                say th ey know and what environmental managers want to                allowed to consider the impacts from structures to be con-
                know. There are, however, at least two scientific trends that         structed below mean high water, but may not consider the
                bode well for cumulative impact assessment:                           water impacts of associated upland facilities. There are a
                   (1) Scientists are placing more emphasis on ways to                myriad of planning efforts that attempt to span these bound-
                extrapolate from very detailed data in ways designed to               aries such as various watershed protection approaches,
                simplify the complexities. Examples include more empha-               including the National Estuary Program.
                sis on indicators of ecosystem health, use of indicator                  A final problem environmental managers face in efforts
                species or guilds, and the synoptic approach for wetlands             to consider adverse cumulative effects is uncertainty about
                assessment. These techniques are designed to avoid deci-              the defensibility or fairness of doing so. There is frequently
                sion-making paralysis caused by believing there is never              a misperception that it is somehow unfair or illegal to deny
                enough information on which to act.                                   a permit application when a similar use has already been
                   (2) There is a growing availability and affordability of           permitted. Some people assert that if an agency allowed the
                powerful tools to collect, manipulate, and depict data, such          first and second, it can't very well deny the tenth - or the
                as GIS systems, remote sensing, and computer models of                twenty-fifth. Although case law varies from state to state,
                estuarine processes.                                                  our study found it was unusual for courts to take this restric-
                   A third problem, identified through the comments of                tive position. Most courts hold that agencies retain the flex-
                environmental managers, is narrowed interpretation of                 ibility to respond to changed environmental conditions and
                agency responsibility. It seems as though until 1990 or so,           have the right to incorporate lessons learned from prior
                there was a self-fulfilling prophecy involving the defensi-           experience, so long as they comply with due process
                bility of aggressive use of cumulative impacts standards.             requirements. Thus, if there is an environmental problem,
                Agencies were not aggressive and predicted courts would               after appropriate legislative or rule-making processes,
                never support denials based on cumulative impacts; the                review standards can be tightened up. Similar later projects
                courts were never put in a position of reviewing agency               can be reviewed under the new standards, and evaluated in
                denials so did not rule such denials were defensible.                 light of the then existing environmental conditions, as they
                Agencies tended to voluntarily utilize less than their full           may have been changed by the earlier projects.
                authority. It is only in the last several years that the courts          To summarize, we concluded that environmental man-
                have had the opportunity to develop a parallel body of case           agers can increase the likelihood of effectively addressing
                law addressing how aggressively agencies can use cumula-              incremental environmental effects by focusing on the fol-
                tive impacts concepts. In either case, our study found that           lowing factors:
                since the judicial review is usually for an abuse of discre-             (1) Adequate Definitions of Key Terms. As there is no
                tion, the agency will generally be upheld whether it                  common usage in the literature, each statute must define
                approves permits after a cursory cumulative impacts review            key terms such as cumulative impacts, effects, and reason-
                or denies the application on the basis of well-documented             ably foreseeable, and provide guidance on how to measure
                adverse cumulative impacts.                                           them.
                   The fourth problem environmental managers wrestle                     (2) Consideration of Multiple Types of Impacts. The
                with in trying to manage cumulative impacts is an a absence           assessment must consider not just multiple casinos, for
                of socially-e stabli shed goals for the resource. Permit              example, but also related impacts from additional restau-
                reviewers cannot just rely on their own comfort level to              rants, retail shops, residences, and increased traffic
                determine when one more is too many. Similarly, scientists            spawned by the casino development.
                cannot pick a point on the continuum as being unaccept-                  (3) Broadened Geographic Scope. The assessment
                able. Socially-establi shed resource goals are necessary to           needs to span a watershed, ecosystem, multi pie-ecosystems
                draw the line below which the resource may not be degrad-             or a similar biologically-defined area of sufficient size to
                ed. If society sets that line higher than existing conditions,        encompass major factors that may cause variation in the
                restoration or improvement is required.                               effects on the resources of concern.
                   The best goals are positive and very long term, such as to            (4) Extended Temporal Scope. The assessment should
                restore the functioning of particular wetlands within 50              take into consideration past development, going as far back
                years. It keeps in perspective that progress will be gradual.         as the records will permit to identify change from the base-


                                                                                44







                 line, and also consider probable future development, pro-                      three: assessment to project impacts, management. to imple-
                 jecting ideally at least a generation, based on pending per-                   ment strategies to minimize or reverse negative impacts,
                 mit applications, local plans, and projected likely similar                    and monitoring to detect environmental changes and deter-
                 applications in future.                                                        mine if the assessment was correct.
                    (5) Use of Extrapolating Techniques. It is important to                        But, as with most resource management efforts, at the
                 use techniques to simplify complexity. This might involve                      heart of the matter is a fundamental issue of whether the
                 using indices of ecosystem health such as indicator species,                   community has the political will to protect particular valued
                 change in impervious surface area, or change in submerged                      resources. Our study indicated that if the will is there, the
                 aquatic vegetation.                                                            mechanisms can be devised to bring us much closer to man-
                    (6) Goal-Setting and Comprehensive Planning. A                              aging cumulative environmental impacts. But if the politi-
                 community consensus on resource goals is crucial to estab-                     cal will is lacking, adequate assessment and management of
                 lish a decision-making context for permitting programs.                        cumulative impacts is unlikely.
                 Similarly, comprehensive planning and advanced designa-
                 tion can relieve pressure on permit programs by directing
                 development to areas where it is likely to have fewest                         Adapted from: Vestal, Barbara, Alison Rieser et a]. 1995. Methodologies
                 adverse effects.                                                               and Mechanisms for Management of Cumulative Coastal Environmental
                                                                                                Impacts. NOAA Coastal Ocean Program Decision Analysis Series No. 6.
                    (7) Integrated Monitoring, Assessment, and Manage-                          Available from NOAA Coastal Ocean Office, 1315 East West Highway,
                 ment. Environmental managers need to make use of all                           Silver Spring, MD 20910.












































                                                                                          45





                                      The OCRM Role in Developing Cumulative
                                   and Secondary Impact Management Strategies

                                                                       Joseph A. Uravitch
                                                                        Associate Director
                                                  Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management


                   The control of cumulative and secondary impacts of                  Nonpoint Source Pollution Program under Section 6217. A
                growth and development have been major issues in coastal               third amendment by Congress Put together something
                states and territories. Addressing cumulative impacts is               called the Coastal Zone Enhancement Program. This is
                probably the number one to number three issue for most of              where cumulative and secondary impacts are addressed.
                the states and territories of the United States right now. The         Congress basically felt that there are a number of significant
                office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management                        coastal issues that states ought to address.
                (OCRM) will be cosponsoring workshops to pull together                    In 1990, they added a competitive funding section called
                the information from across the country that states have               the Coastal Zone Enhancement Program and outlined
                been developing over the past 4 to 5 years.                            national coastal resource management objectives that need-
                   The Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management                 ed to be reviewed by states to enhance the existing authori-
                of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration                 ties of their programs. These included the following: (1) to
                (NOAA) administers the Coastal Zone Management                         protect, restore, or enhance the existing coastal wetlands
                Program and the National Estuarine Reserve System, which               base or create new coastal wetlands; (2) to increase oppor-
                are both under the Coastal Zone Management Act and                     tunities for public access to coastal areas; (3) to address the
                NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program. The Coastal                  cumulative and secondary impacts of population growth
                Zone Management Program was established in 1972, when                  and urban development in coastal. areas (26 out of the 29
                the Coastal Zone Management Act first passed, with the                 coastal states and territories with approved programs
                directive to preserve, protect, develop, and where possible            thought that was a priority issue that needed to be addressed
                restore or enhance the resources of the coastal zone. It is            by their state); (4) to prevent or significantly reduce threats
                one of the first programs to look comprehensively at what              to the life and destruction of property by eliminating devel-
                happens along the coastal area and at that broad spectrum of           opment or redevelopment in high coastal hazards areas and
                uses and activities from development to conservation.                  managing development in other hazard areas; (5) to identi-
                   The Coastal Zone Program is voluntary, and has done                 fy and develop special area management plans to manage
                rather well in terms of getting state participation. Twenty-           coastal areas with special needs (Mississippi is a good
                nine states out of thirty-five coastal states and territories in       example of having used the special area management plan-
                the United States have federally approved coastal zone pro-            ning process with a number of, its ports); (6) to promote the
                grams. Another five are presently in the process of devel-             wise use of ocean resources; and (7) to assist in the placing
                oping coastal zone programs. The next program scheduled                of energy facilities and government facilities along the
                for approval is that of the State of Texas, soon to be fol-            coast.
                lowed by the State of Ohio, and then sometime further                     Here's the way the process worked. Once Congress put
                along by Georgia, Minnesota, and Indiana, probably in that             the program in place, guidelines were developed and all of
                order. At this point, well over 93% of the U.S. shoreline is           the state programs went through an assessment process to
                currently managed by a federally-approved coastal zone                 review the issue areas. Wetlands, cumulative and secondary
                program.                                                               impacts, and coastal hazards were the top three priority
                   The program is important because people have really                 areas. Once states identified what their problems were, they
                recognized the importance of coastal resources. And from a             were then required to develop strategies as to how, over a 5-
                political perspective, it's been a bipartisan recognition of           year period, they would begin to address those particular
                the importance of coastal zone management.                             problems. Cumulative and secondary impacts were proba-
                   The Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization passed the House               bly one of the major areas in which federal money was
                2 weeks ago by a vote of 407 to zero. What's important                 spent by states to try to get a grasp on this problem. Most
                about reauthorization is what it will do to the program. In            state coastal management programs do have legal authority
                1990, Congress made a number of significant amendments                 to consider cumulative impacts in permitting decisions.
                to the Coastal Zone Management Act. One was to basically               Many states have policies in local land use plans that are
                provide new incentive funding to get the rest of the coastal           applicable to cumulative impacts. However in actual prac-
                states and territories involved in coastal zone management.            tice, these programs review only the immediate and direct
                Another was to work jointly with EPA on a Coastal                      impacts on coastal resources. They've acquired a variety of



                                                                                  46







               obstacles in putting guidelines together. The first is the            planning and management approach to protect natural
               absence of methodologies that are practical and widely                resources with more science-based efforts that involve col-
               accepted. The second is limited scientific knowledge per-             lecting and utilizing resource data on geographic informa-
               taining to causes and effects.   The third is the inability to        tion systems.
               develop sufficient information to assess resources. And                 Alaska is developing a methodology to quantify the
               finally, there is insufficient coordination among regulatory          impacts to fisheries habitat in one of its rivers. Various
               agencies.                                                             coastal states and territories employ other systematic
                 Despite all these difficulties, many coastal states and ter-        approaches to improve the cumulative impacts.
               ritories have utilized the Enhancement Program to improve               As part of Mississippi's enhancement strategy, the
               the primary existing plan frameworks, including improve-              Coastal Program proposes to clarify its existing wetlands
               ment of coordination mechanisms, expansion of the scope               authority, and to identify and manage activities that cause
               of state environmental impact review requirements, incor-             indirect impacts associated with stormwater runoff and sed-
               poration of cumulative impact language into existing envi-            imentation from construction, altered natural hydrology and
               ronmental programs and recommendations, modification of               related water quality problems. Clarification of this author-
               permit procedures, and improvements of baseline data and              ity would result in modification of permit review guidelines
               monitoring capability with a greater emphasis on nation-              to include management of indirect impacts. And further,
               wide approaches.                                                      there was a memorandum of understanding with relevant
                 California, for example, is in the midst of pursuing devel-         state and federal agencies to address agency coordination.
               opment of a regional review permitting process. The state is          OCRM will be going forward with an assessment of what
               conducting a demonstration project to review the regional             the states have accomplished over the past 5 years, getting
               cumulative impacts to resources and to make recommenda-               an analysis of that information, and getting it out to people
               tions on how to better consider cumulative impacts in local           so it can be of some use. The other important change will be
               permitting processes for coastal development. This may                coming out of the reauthorization of the Coastal Zone
               result in new monitoring data collection and/or better coor-          Management Act. Congress has given OCRM the authority
               dination.                                                             to allow the states to spend competitive funds under this
                  Other approaches that coastal states and territories are           program (Enhancement Program) or take up to 2 years to
               pursuing through the Enhancement Program include (as in               actually implement program changes.
               the case of North Carolina) combining a comprehensive


































                                                                               47








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             Mississippi State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, or veteran status.

             Extension Service of Mississippi State,University, cooperating with U.S. Department of Agriculture. Published in furthance of Acts of Congress,
             May 8 and June 30, 1914. Ronald A. Brown, Director                                                                          70391 (500-4-97)