John Bowie just shared this good news over on StormSmart Connect:
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have announced a joint agreement that will protect the safety, health, and property of people living in or visiting coastal communities around the nation. The two agencies will partner with local governmental entities to improve the sustainability of waterfront communities and protect coastal ecosystems, including anticipating and reducing impacts of climate change. They will provide technical assistance and training to implement more sustainable construction and land use practices, develop innovative, web-based tools to better provide the public and local government with essential scientific and technical information, collaborate on the development of the National Coastal Condition Assessment and Reports which depict the condition of the nation’s coastal waters based on data collected and analyzed by state agencies, and support place-based projects focused on equitable development and climate adaptation in coastal urban watersheds.
This agreement builds on a 2005-2010 EPA-NOAA partnership which provided training on resilience and smart growth to over 400 coastal community officials and developed the publication Smart Growth for Coastal and Waterfront Communities.
Want more detailed information on what this all means? You can find a PDF overview here.