Freshman U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., is getting behind a proposal to add a “Digital Coast” program to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), insisting it will help local and state governments prepare for major storms.
At the end of last week, Crist paired up with U.S. Reps. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Mary., Don Young, R-Alaska, and Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., to unveil the “Digital Coast Act” which would launch the program by having the NOAA start the data collection and provide the maps of the coasts online for free.
“Geospatial mapping information can be complicated, expensive to collect, and difficult to use without in-house expertise,” the representatives’ offices noted on Friday. “In the wake of devastating recent Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, the need for spatial data on our coasts is critical to emergency preparedness and response efforts. The Digital Coast Act will provide coastal communities updated mapping data that can be used to prepare for storms, manage floods, restore ecosystems and plan smarter developments near America’s coasts, harbors, ports and shorelines.”
Crist made the case for why he thought the bill was needed.
“Pinellas County, which I’m honored to represent, is a peninsula on the peninsula of Florida. Our community’s safety depends on coastal resiliency,” Crist said. “The Digital Coast program provides invaluable data and digital tools to combat increasingly severe storms and rising sea levels which impact tourism and fishing industries – major drivers of our state and local economies. I’m proud to join in introducing this common-sense bill to bolster this critical program to protect people, property, and our economy.”
“America’s fragile shorelines are home to more than half of our country’s population and millions of businesses that supply most of our gross domestic product,” Ruppersberger said. “Yet current coastal maps and geospatial data are woefully inaccurate, outdated or even nonexistent. The Digital Coast Act will give local planners and managers the high-tech data they need to make accurate decisions and smart investments that could save people and property.”
“No other state in the nation understands the need for coastal resilience and mapping more than Alaska,” Young said. “With more than 44,000 miles of coastline, much of which is not fully mapped, Alaska’s coastal communities rely heavily on our waterways and shipping channels to support all forms of social and economic prosperity: goods from the lower 48, critical transportation needs, search and rescue operations, and the state’s largest private sector employer – our fishing industry. The Digital Coast Act is an important step towards developing a system that supports our coastal communities with up-to-date and reliable information on our coastlines and weather conditions.”
Ruppersberger and Young have been pushing variations of the bill in the House since 2010. The bill was sent to the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee.
A similar bill from U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., was passed in the U.S. Senate earlier this year with no opposition.
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