Abstract

Several of New Jersey’s neighboring Mid-Atlantic States have recently proposed legislative and administrative changes to agency programs in order to account for risks posed to state resources and residents by a changing climate. Coastal managers in Maryland, Delaware, and New York identified recent legislation, executive actions and proposals as the latest efforts to incorporate climate change into law in their respective states to address coastal resources and risks, including:

1. Delaware Executive Order 41: Preparing Delaware for Emerging Climate Impacts and Seizing Economic Opportunities from Reducing Emissions (Enacted)
2. Maryland Executive Order 01.01.2012.19: Climate Change and “Coast Smart” Construction (Enacted)
3. Maryland House Bill 615: Coast Smart Council (Enacted)
4. New York S06617B: Community Risk and Resiliency Act (Proposed).

The following is an analysis with an emphasis on coastal resources and risks, and identifies adaptation programs and policies of states in the region (as of 31 July 2014) that are consistent with one or more of the individual recommendations pertinent to coastal resources and risks proposed by the NJCAA in Preparing New Jersey for Climate Change: Policy Considerations from the New Jersey Climate Adaptation Alliance.