The Meeting Point: How States and Federal Government Collaborate on Coastal Zones | Capitol Beach

On The Capitol Beach, host Derek Brockbank is joined by Adam Schempp with the Environmental Law Institute and Daniel Govoni with North Carolina Division of Coastal Management to explore federal consistency as established by the Coastal Zone Management Act. Federal consistency is a rare policy that requires the federal government to coordinate with a state before any federal action takes place in that state’s coastal zone. Each state, with the approval of NOAA, can establish “enforceable policies” that determine what state rules and regulations can trigger federal consistency. Daniel is a federal consistency coordinator for NC and provides local examples and a state perspective; Adam and ELI have recently released a report entitled, “Strong Enforceable Policies: Examples and Tips”, and provide a national explanation. Further learning on this topic can be done through Digital Coast’s learning module on federal consistency.  This podcast gets wonky – which I think we mention 5 or 6 times during the pod! – but provides a great overview of complicated but important coastal policy.