Federal Spending Prohibitions

The Coastal Barrier Resources Act and its amendments prohibit most new federal expenditures that tend to encourage development or modification of coastal barriers. The laws do not restrict activities carried out with private or other non-federal funds and only apply to the areas that are within the defined John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resource System (CBRS). The main prohibition affecting property owners is the prohibition on federal flood insurance.

Examples of prohibited federal assistance within System units include subsidies for road construction, channel dredging, and other coastal engineering projects. Federal flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program is available in a CBRS unit if the subject building was constructed (or permitted and under construction) before the CBRS unit's effective date. If an existing insured structure is substantially improved or damaged, the federal flood insurance policy will not be renewed.

Federal monies can be spent within System units for certain exempted activities, after consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Examples of such activities include emergency assistance, military activities essential to national security, exploration and extraction of energy resources, and maintenance of existing federal navigational channels. The only federal funding prohibition within OPAs is on federal flood insurance.

Section 5 of the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA; 16 U.S.C. § 3504) prohibits new federal expenditures or financial assistance within System units of the Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS).  An expenditure or financial assistance is considered “new” under CBRA (16 U.S.C. § 3504(b) if:  (1) no money for construction or purchase purposes was appropriated before the date on which the relevant System unit or portion of the System unit was included within the CBRS; or (2) no legally binding commitment for the expenditure or financial assistance was made before such date.  Except as provided in Section 6 of CBRA (16 U.S.C. § 3505), no new expenditures or new financial assistance may be made available under authority of any federal law for any purpose within the CBRS, including, but not limited to the following:

1.  the construction or purchase of any structure, appurtenance, facility, or related infrastructure;
2.  the construction or purchase of any road, airport, boat landing facility, or other facility on, or bridge or causeway to, any System unit; and
3. the carrying out of any project to prevent the erosion of, or to otherwise stabilize, any inlet, shoreline, or inshore area, except that such assistance and expenditures may be made available on units designated pursuant to section 3503 of this title on maps numbered S01 through S08 and LA-07 for purposes other than encouraging development and, in all units, in cases where an emergency threatens life, land and property immediately adjacent to that unit.

Under CBRA (16 U.S.C. § 3502(3)), the term ‘‘financial assistance’’ is defined as any form of loan, grant, guaranty, insurance, payment, rebate, subsidy, or any other form of direct or indirect federal assistance other than (1) deposit or account insurance for customers of banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, or similar institutions; (2) the purchase of mortgages or loans by the Government National Mortgage Association, the Federal National Mortgage Association, or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; (3) assistance for environmental studies, planning, and assessments that are required incident to the issuance of permits or other authorizations under federal law; and (4) assistance pursuant to programs entirely unrelated to development, such as any federal or federally assisted public assistance program or any federal old-age survivors or disability insurance program.