2024 Coastal Resilience Program Competition Results
The National Sea Law Grant Center awarded two institutions a one-year research grant through its 2024 Coastal Resilience Program competition. The Law Center received thirteen full proposals that went through a rigorous evaluation process involving written peer reviewers and technical review panelists. Out of the thirteen full proposals received, the following were awarded:
Institution: Environmental Law Institute and Sea & Shore Solutions
Project Title: Evaluating Oregon’s Statewide Land Use Planning Goal 18: Beaches & Dunes
Principal Investigator: Adam Schempp
Project Description: This project will evaluate the impact of Oregon's Statewide Land Use Planning Goal 18, an essential policy for coastal resilience, and offer actionable legal language recommendations to enhance the resilience of Oregon’s coastal communities. The research will focus on five communities across the coast that reflect diverse natural and demographic characteristics. The team will conduct a comprehensive literature review covering policy, environmental science, and engineering, followed by interviews and consultations with local experts and community organizations. A legal analysis of Goal 18 and its associated regulations will identify both effective provisions and areas for potential improvement. The findings will culminate in a detailed report and outreach materials, including one-pagers with policy interpretations tailored to state and local governments. This work will be guided by an Outreach Advisory Committee to ensure inclusive stakeholder engagement. In addition, the project will contribute to advancing recommendations from the DLCD’s 2019 Goal 18: Pre-1977 Development Focus Group.
Institution: University of Rhode Island
Project Title: Assessing the Effectiveness of Rhode Island’s Shoreline Access Policies in the Context of Climate Change
Principal Investigator: Jesse Reiblich
Project Description: This project will evaluate the effectiveness of Rhode Island’s shoreline access policies in the face of rising sea levels and other climate change impacts. The research will focus on three key objectives: (a) determining whether Rhode Island’s current definition of the shoreline (i.e., 10 feet landward of the visible high water line) is legally sufficient or if a new delineation would be more appropriate for users, property owners, and regulators, while considering climate change impacts; (b) assessing whether Rhode Island’s new shoreline access law provides meaningful access to the coast or merely establishes a legal right without addressing equity, policy, and practical access challenges; and (c) building upon recent planning grants funded by Rhode Island Sea Grant.
Program Development Funds
Project Title: Building Legal Capacity to Address Intellectual Property and Equity Considerations in Community-Research Partnership
Principal Investigator: Katy Hintzen, University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program
Project Description: The National Sea Grant Law Center awarded project development (PD) funding to the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program (Hawaiʻi Sea Grant) to enhance equitable knowledge ownership and access through community-researcher partnerships. The project objectives were to: (1) assess the current landscape of intellectual property (IP) policies within the University of Hawaiʻi System, (2) build a network of partners in the Hawaiian Islands to address IP issues, and (3) connect with national expertise in IP law.
In the first phase of the project, a legal intern conducted research and produced several key deliverables, including a comprehensive slide deck for use by Hawaiʻi Sea Grant and other partners that outlines the intersection of IP law, Indigenous rights, and the unique challenges faced by Hawaiian knowledge practices. The legal intern also developed an annotated services agreement template to inform future agreements. Project team members also presented these findings at the 2024 US Indigenous Data Sovereignty & Governance Summit in Arizona, further strengthening national connections with Indigenous scholars and data stewardship experts.
In collaboration with Conservation International, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant organized the workshop "No kākou, Na kākou" on July 29, 2024, in Honolulu. This event brought together 48 participants from diverse fields—including health, law, environmental conservation, and cultural practices—to foster dialogue on Indigenous data sovereignty and collective responsibilities in knowledge stewardship. The workshop was highly successful, providing a platform for deep connections among Kanaka 'Ōiwi leaders. Journal articles are currently in development to share the presentations and insights from this Summit.
2024 Sea Grant Law and Policy Journal Symposium Competition Results
In June 2024, the National Sea Law Grant Center awarded four universities a grant to organize and host academic symposiums addressing priority ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes law and policy topics. The proceedings from these symposia will be published as a special issue of the Sea Grant Law & Policy Journal.
Project Title: Puerto Rico at the Crux of Climate Change and Recovery, Puerto Rico Sea Grant, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
Project Description: The Sea Grant College Program at the University of Puerto Rico in collaboration with the Legal Clinic at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico School of Law, will convene a two-day symposium on coastal legal issues in the face of climate change, disaster recovery and fiscal austerity. The event will assemble scientists, practicing litigators, community members, legal scholars, and activists to contemplate coastal issues in a post-disaster context together. Legal professionals will address the development of the legal framework regulating the diverse and sometimes conflicting interests that converge on our coasts, and community activists and leaders will ensure that the dialogue will incorporate practical concerns regarding implementation, account for the changing nature of these communities, and explore alternative solutions. This new legal academic work on coastal matters will provide increased depth and new insight into norms that originated in the nineteenth century and have remained generally unchanged.
Project Title: Law and Policy Challenges to Coastal Adaptation in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland Sea Grant, University of Maryland
Project Description: Maryland Sea Grant (MDSG) in collaboration with Georgetown University Law Center’s Georgetown Climate Center and the Environmental Law Institute , will host a one-day symposium to highlight and analyze gaps in the existing adaptation legal frameworks and to further investigate mechanisms to improve existing legal structures to more effectively address the societal challenges brought on by a changing climate in Mid-Atlantic coastal communities. This symposium, and the subsequent related articles, will help (1) raise public, private, and government awareness of the Law Center’s Journal and MDSG’s Legal Fellowship program, (2) facilitate collaboration between other Mid-Atlantic Sea Grant programs and regional ocean and coastal organizations, and (3) advise the legislatures of Maryland and other Mid-Atlantic states on equitable, community-centered adaptation policies in need of legislation.
MDSG Press Release: Maryland Sea Grant to Hold Climate Adaptation Law and Policy Symposium
Project Title: Shape of the Coast Legal Learning at North Carolina’s 2024 Coastal Conference, North Carolina Sea Grant, North Carolina State University
Project Description: In alignment with the 2024 North Carolina Coastal Conference, and in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Office of General Counsel, the North Carolina Sea Grant will incorporate a “Shape of the Coast” symposium on Wednesday, November 13, 2024 in New Bern, NC. This symposium will be developed in partnership with a variety of legal experts and will support law and policy students in an engaging manner through a proposed mentorship approach. The interdisciplinary topics and partnership model will strengthen current relationships as well as develop new legal networks to address priority state, regional, and coastal needs for current and future professionals.
Project Title: Navigating Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal: From Science to Regulation, Columbia University
Project Description: Columbia University in collaboration with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and New York Sea Grant, will host a hybrid symposium that will explore legal and policy issues associated with Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR) activities that aim to increase uptake and storage of carbon dioxide in the ocean. The symposium will provide an opportunity for legal and policy experts, regulators and government representatives, scientific researchers, industry groups, the NGO community, and others to discuss legal and policy frameworks for advancing marine CDR. The mCDR law symposium and its proceedings will help to improve knowledge and information sharing, spur additional research, and thereby advance sustainable mCDR.
Coastal Resilience Program
2023 Coastal Resilience Program Competition Results
The National Sea Law Grant Center awarded four universities a one-year research grant through its 2023 Coastal Resilience Program competition. The Law Center received ten full proposals that went through a rigorous evaluation process involving written peer reviewers and technical review panelists. Out of the ten full proposals received, the following were awarded:
Institution: University of Louisville Research Foundation, Inc.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Craig Anthony (Tony) Arnold
Project Title: Equitable Coastal Urban Adaptation to Climate Change: A Resilience Justice Assessment Assessment
Project Description: The project will study the extent to which 8 urban study areas are adopting and implementing strategies that are well-designed to improve the adaptive capacities and reduce the vulnerabilities of marginalized communities, especially low-income neighborhoods and populations of color.
Institution: University of Hawai'i Sea Grant College Program
Principal Investigator: Dolan Eversole
Project Title: Assessing the Effectiveness of Coastal Adaptation Policies in Hawai‘i: A Comprehensive Framework for Evaluation and Best Practices Comprehensive Framework for Evaluation and Best Practices
Project Description: The project will evaluate and assess selected adaptation policies by examining their performance against specific criteria, such as the stated objectives of the policy, the ability to protect against coastal hazards and climate change, cost-effectiveness, social and environmental impacts, and long-term sustainability. The research aims to provide insights into which strategies are most effective in protecting coastal areas from the impacts of climate change, identify any trade-offs or synergies between different adaptation strategies, as well as potential barriers and challenges to their implementation.
Institution: The Pennsylvania State University
Principal Investigator: Christine J. Kirchhoff, Ph.D., P.E.
Project Title: Learning climate resilience: Investigation of the Maine Climate Adaptation Planning policy for climate resilient wastewater infrastructure policy for climate resilient wastewater infrastructure
Project Description: The project will assess the efficacy of the Climate Adaptation Policy (CAP) program for achieving stated policy objectives among participating wastewater systems including improving awareness about climate risks and assessing wastewater managers’ intention to adapt or actual progress in implementing climate adaptation measures. In addition, this research will also provide This project will also we seek to understand how the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s iterative and collaborative collective planning process affected the quality and content of climate action plans and the ability of municipalities to implement wastewater climate adaptation actions including whether the policy promoted more inclusive, equitable climate adaptation in the wastewater sector.
Institution: University of Massachusetts Boston
Principal Investigator: John Duff, JD, LLM
Project Title: Coastal Preparedness & Resilience: Effects and Effectiveness of Two Policy Efforts
Project Description: This project will examine the origin, implementation, evolution, and effects of the programs to assess:
– common vulnerabilities articulated in the MVP assessments and coastal resilience support
requests; and,
– common/best/unique practices employed by municipalities to reduce vulnerability and/or
enhance resilience.
Researchers will share preliminary findings with state administrators and use the findings to conduct a survey of municipalities to assess how programs might be modified to better advance the state’s objectives to reduce vulnerability and/or enhance resilience. Researchers will also examine how the programs evolved over time to discern how the policies themselves were adapted to reflect new knowledge and feedback from coastal communities.