Service Announces Congressionally Adopted Changes to Coastal Barrier Resource System Map for New Jersey

A new map depicting six units of the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System
Learn more about the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System, which was established under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act in 1982.

Learn more about John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS) in New Jersey was made effective Dec. 16, 2016, when President Obama signed HR 6400 into law (Public Law 114-314). The affected units comprise 739 total acres in Middlesex and Monmouth counties in New Jersey. The comprehensively revised map corrects errors and adds eligible undeveloped areas to the CBRS. 

The CBRS was established in 1982 and helps save taxpayer dollars and reduce the intensity of development within hazard-prone and ecologically sensitive coastal areas. The CBRS comprises a total of 862 geographic units that encompass 3.4 million acres of relatively undeveloped coastal barrier areas located along the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes coasts, as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

Most new federal expenditures and financial assistance that encourage development are prohibited within the CBRS, including federal flood insurance. However, development still can occur provided private developers or other non-federal parties bear the full responsibility and cost of building in these highly dynamic areas.    

When Congress reauthorized the Coastal Barrier Resources Act in 2006, it directed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare updated CBRS maps using modern digital technology. To date, the Service has prepared comprehensively revised maps for approximately 15 percent of the total CBRS (which includes maps recently released as part of a Digital Mapping Pilot Project). The Service has projects underway to prepare comprehensively revised maps for another 15 percent of the CBRS, which includes about 370 units in eight northeastern states that were affected by Hurricane Sandy (Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia). The Service plans to start the public review process for Hurricane Sandy project maps in 2017.

The new map depicting revisions to three existing units and three entirely new units in New Jersey, as well as additional information about the CBRS, can be found on the Service’s website at https://www.fws.gov/program/coastal-barrier-resources-act/maps-and-data.