On October 15, 2024, BHA’s Rhode Island Team submitted written testimony to NOAA, related to their periodic coastal management program review focused on Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Management Council. This process, which occurs approximately every 5 years, is intended to assess the performance of state coastal regulators, both highlighting their accomplishments and issuing recommendations and/or necessary actions for improvement. In the current fiscal year, nearly 50% of CRMC’s budget is funded by the Federal Government, which requires the state agency maintains compliance with the standards of the federal coastal zone management act to continue receiving support.
Over the last several years, BHA’s Rhode Island team has been critical of some aspects of CRMC’s operations (like their handling of illegal development by a shorefront country club), and has also supported and celebrated the work that CRMC’s staff leads to promote and improve public access to RI’s shoreline and designate rights-of-way to the shore.
The RI Team has supported restructuring RI's coastal program by transferring power from the politically appointed council (who are not required to have any expertise in coastal issues whatsoever) to the agency’s professional staff, and even elevated this issue as a top state policy priority earlier this year. Several of the reasons why we support such a transition are included in our testimony to NOAA, like the council’s inability to achieve quorum consistently, or maintain a full 10-member panel. Additionally, we raise concerns about CRMC regressing on some of the necessary actions that NOAA has required them to resolve in the past, primarily from the 2010 performance evaluation.
Read BHA’s Comments to NOAA on their Performance Evaluation of RI CRMC
NOAA is accepting written comments on RI CRMC’s performance until October 25, and they can be submitted to Michael Migliori, Lead Evaluator, NOAA Office of Coastal Management at [email protected] with “Comments on Performance Evaluation of Rhode Island Coastal Management Program” in the subject line of the message.
About New England BHA Chapter
New England BHA is a voice for the sporting community in New England that values solitude, silence, clean and free flowing rivers, and habitat for large, wide-ranging wildlife.