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The Coastal Resilience Networks (CRest)

Download Draft Report- Options for Implementing the Hawai‘i State Planning Act Climate Change Adaptation Priority Guidelines- February 19, 2013

About CRest
The Coastal Resilience Networks (CRest) Project is a collaborative effort among the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law (UH Law School), and the Hawaiʻi State Office and Planning (OP)  Coastal Zone Management Program (CZM). Funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Community Resilience Networks (CRest) Program, the CRest Project leverages the partnerships established during and since the publication of “A Framework for Climate Change Adaptation Planning in Hawaiʻi” (the Framework), which was prepared in 2009 by the multi-stakeholder Ocean Resource Management Plan (ORMP) Working Group and officially endorsed by the executive-level ORMP Policy Group.

Background
Over the past few years, Hawaiʻi has made progress towards many of the steps outlined in the Framework. A number of risk and vulnerability assessments have been conducted; new sea-level rise inundation maps are currently underway; and climate adaptation mechanisms are being developed by research centers at the university and through county and state agency initiatives, such as the recently adopted Hawaiʻi State Climate Change Adaptation Priority Guideline (2012 Haw. Sess. Laws, 26th Leg., Act 286, § 2 (2012))

This Guideline mandates consideration of the long-term threats associated with climate change, generally, and sea-level rise in particular, in planning and permitting. For the Guideline to be fully implemented, state, county, and community entities are considering options for how best to integrate sea-level rise into comprehensive plans, permit review, as well as administrative and regulatory policies.

Guidance, such as a sea-level rise analysis framework, may be incorporated into procedures for state and county plan updates, shoreline setback variances, Special Management Area (SMA) permits, Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) and Land Use Commission reviews of applications for district boundary amendments.

Goals, Objectives, and Outputs
The main goal of the CRest Project is to help planners and policymakers understand how climate adaptation may be integrated into Hawaii’s existing land-use planning and regulatory framework.  To reach this goal, the CRest Project will develop actionable guidance options that will allow climate impacts to be evaluated in permitting and climate adaptation measures to be implemented through state and county plans.  Guidance, such as a sea-level rise analysis framework, may be incorporated into procedures for state and county plan updates, Shoreline Setbacks, Special Management Area permits, Environmental Impact Statements and Land Use Commission reviews of applications for district boundary amendments.

Audience
CRest aims to serve a wide audience, providing direct guidance for county planning departments, state agency planners, consultants and communities working on county plan updates, and other land-use decision makers reviewing development proposals.

Project Status
Currently the CRest research team is surveying the variety of ways other cities and states are using climate and coastal resilience assessment as part of their permitting and planning processes.  Research-based options will be discussed through facilitated dialog with the ORMP Integrated Climate Planning Committee and other stakeholder engagement processes.

Meet the CRest Project Team
Click here to learn more about the CRest Project Team.

For more questions, contact India Heff

Permanent link to this article: https://islandclimate.net/projects/crest/

CRest Project Team

Maxine Burkett CRest Principal Investigator (PI) Associate Professor of Law Contact: burkettm@hawaii.edu (808) 956-2865 Maxine Burkett is an Associate Professor of Law at the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaiʻi and has served as the inaugural Director of the Center for Island Climate Adaptation and Policy (ICAP) at the University of Hawaiʻi …