Fresh from his first six weeks in Washington, U.S. Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., traveled around the 7th district during a Congressional recess last week, gathering guidance from local elected officials to inform his priorities.
Rouzer said the Wrightsville Beach coastal storm damage reduction project’s approaching cost cap — which would eliminate federal financial participation in projects after 2022 even though the project is eligible for federal funds through 2036 — is “front and center” on his list of priorities, prompting him to speak with House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee staff and Chairman Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., who visited Wrightsville Beach with Rouzer in August 2014.
A solution could be secured in a 2016 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), a bill drafted periodically by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that dictates upcoming coastal management projects.
“We’re going to try to get it resolved sooner rather than later, but I think the WRDA bill next year may turn out to be our very best vehicle to handle the issue. I feel confident that we’ll be able to get it resolved,” Rouzer said.
In addition to ensuring fellow committee members know his district-specific priorities, Rouzer also discussed efforts to raise awareness of coastal issues in Washington. Rouzer said he was recently named co-chair of a House coastal caucus, which he said could be a good avenue for coastal lawmakers to leverage interest in shared priorities.
“One person isn’t the silver bullet on any of this. We’ve got to work together and we’ve got to have a concerted effort to educate not only other members of Congress, but also other state legislators and the public at large on the importance of beach nourishment and the dredging of our inlets and waterways. It’s no different than roads and bridges elsewhere,” Rouzer said.
While he said he is trying to talk with Congressmen and colleagues in Washington about coastal infrastructure projects, it would be helpful, Rouzer said, if organizations with strong outreach capabilities, like the N.C. Farm Bureau, echoed the need for federal participation in the projects.
“I think there’s a real challenge, and a real opportunity, for coastal areas to get some of these organizations talking about your issues, because it’s important to them, too,” Rouzer said.
Assuming a more immediate view, Rouzer said he plans to tackle rules and regulations that drive up project costs and create hassle for local communities, listing the short windows of opportunity for dredging, beach renourishment and other coastal construction projects as an example.
Implemented to avoid disturbance to endangered marine animals like sea turtles that nest on the beach, projects are currently restricted to a Nov. 16 through April 31 timeframe. High demand for a limited number of dredging companies drives up the cost of beach projects, Rouzer said, and many of the coastal communities he represents have requested more flexible windows of opportunity.
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