Sec. 2. Findings
215 words·~1 min read·
/bill/113/hr/1382/ih/section-2A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Congress finds that— the lack of current, accurate, uniform, and standards-based geospatial information to characterize the United States coastal region presents a significant liability to adequately manage and maintain the Nation’s— environment; infrastructure; economy; and public safety and homeland security; more than half of all people of the United States (153 million) currently live on or near a coast and an additional 12 million are expected in the next decade; coastal counties in the United States average 300 persons per square mile, compared with the national average of 98; on a typical day, more than 1,540 permits for construction of single-family homes are issued in coastal counties, combined with other commercial, retail, and institutional construction to support this population; over half of the Nation’s economic productivity is located within coastal regions; highly accurate, high-resolution remote sensing and other geospatial data play an important role in management of the coastal zone and economy, including for flood and coastal storm surge prediction; hazard risk and vulnerability assessment; emergency response and recovery planning; community resilience to longer range climate change impacts; permitting and zoning decisionmaking; habitat and ecosystem health assessments; and landscape change detection; and the Digital Coast is a model approach in effective Federal partnerships with local and State government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector.