Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study


Sunny Isles Beach

This study's purpose is to address critical-infrastructure and evacuation-route protection, along with structural-damage reduction, in response to coastal storm risks and effects and associated impacts such as sea-level rise, storm surge, and extreme wind and tidal effects. The study's three-year timeline started in October 2018 and will terminate with a Chief’s Report in September 2021.

Supplemental funding allows the Corps of Engineers to complete the feasibility study, which is evaluating measures for coastal storm risk management, sea-level rise and chronic flooding issues for Monroe County.

Federal funding for this study is $3 million.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

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 What is the Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Study? 

The study investigates solutions to reduce risks within the Florida Keys from future coastal storm events, especially from storm surge, to reduce economic damage and the risk to life and safety.

 What is the scope of the Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Study?

The study is planned for completion within three years (October 2018 to September 2021) and $3 million. The study scope includes analysis to identify which nonstructural measures, structural measures, and/or natural and nature-based features would be effective and cost efficient in reducing the impacts of future coastal storms throughout the entire Florida Keys. The study primarily focuses on measures that would reduce damage to vulnerable development and infrastructure in the kKeys, including residential and nonresidential buildings, critical infrastructure and U.S. Route 1 (Overseas Highway).

 Why is this study important for the Florida Keys? 

This study will result in the recommendation of a project that will be authorized for construction. The Florida Keys and its five municipalities, with a total of about 158,000 people, lie in a relatively low-lying and flat coastal area. The region is well known for its risk of coastal flooding from hurricanes and tropical storms. Sea-level rise has increased these risks and will continue to do so in the future. Without plans to reduce coastal storm risk and increase resiliency, threats to life, property and the economy will continue to increase. This study will identify and evaluate coastal storm risk management measures for Florida Keys residents, industries and businesses.

 What does the study tentatively recommend to reduce coastal storm risk in the Florida Keys? 

Currently estimated at a construction cost of $5.5 billion, the Tentatively Selected Plan (TSP) includes six revetments along U.S. Route 1, nonstructural measures (which include residential elevations and acquisition, and floodproofing of commercial structures), and floodproofing of critical infrastructure within the entire Florida Keys. If the project is authorized and funds are appropriated by Congress as a study result, the project cost will be shared by the federal government, which would provide 65% of the funding, and a nonfederal sponsor that would provide the remaining 35%. The nonfederal sponsor may utilize local agreements with other nonfederal entities to secure the 35% nonfederal funds needed for project construction. The nonfederal sponsor assumes responsibility of the project once it has been completed and will be responsible for any future required operation and maintenance.

 Where can I find the draft report? 

The draft report is available above in the "Study Documents" section of this webpage.

 How can the public provide feedback? 

The public is encouraged to provide feedback on the Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement that has been made available on this website by sending an email to floridakeysCSRM@usace.army.mil. If written correspondence is required, comments can be submitted to our district office (Attn: Environmental Analysis Section, Norfolk District, 803 Front St., Norfolk, Virginia 23510). For any accessibility issues that prevent written comments, please call 757-201-7728. The 45-day public comment period ends on Aug. 10, 2020.

 How has the study been funded? What is the next phase?

Following a series of hurricanes and severe storms, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) received $3 million in Federal Emergency Supplemental Funding to study the impact and potential solutions of coastal storm events in the Florida Keys. Even though the study is 100% federally funded, Monroe County is the nonfederal sponsor. The USACE study team has worked with the county throughout the study to incorporate its existing information and identification of problems and opportunities that would reduce coastal storm risk in the Florida Keys. The project ultimately recommended for implementation at study completion would be cost shared between the federal government and nonfederal sponsor. The nonfederal sponsor may utilize local agreements with other nonfederal entities to secure the portion of nonfederal funds needed for project construction, which will be cost shared 65% federal and 35% nonfederal. Once the study has been completed, the Preconstruction Engineering and Design (PED) Phase can begin once funded by Congress, which is estimated to be 2022 at the earliest.

 What is the project schedule? When will it be built?

Once the study is complete in September 2021, the recommended plan from the final Feasibility Report will be transmitted to Congress for authorization. It is currently estimated that the project would be authorized in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024. Once authorized, Congress can appropriate funds for project implementation, which could occur in late 2024 or early 2025. If authorization and appropriation of funds occur by 2025, it is estimated the project could be completed by 2030.

 Does the study recommend any eminent domain or acquisitions? 

The Tentatively Selected Plan includes acquisition as a nonstructural measure. Current USACE policy requires mandatory participation in acquisition, which means it may be implemented by the use of eminent domain as necessary, if it is included in the recommended plan. The project’s nonfederal sponsor must have the ability to use eminent domain if required to implement acquisition. Further analysis will occur prior to the final report on the structures to be included in the nonstructural plan for acquisition. Negotiation is required to acquire real estate. Fair-market value as established by a real estate appraisal is the basis for the initial offers to property owners. If negotiation fails, eminent domain is an option that can be utilized to acquire homes, per USACE policy. This does not replace the reasonable efforts to negotiate a purchase before initiating an eminent domain action.

However, please note that the study’s nonfederal sponsor, Monroe County, does not support mandatory acquisition for this project and has submitted a request to USACE to waive the mandatory policy for acquisition and make participation in the measure voluntary. If the waiver request is approved, acquisition would occur on a voluntary basis only. If the waiver is not approved, Monroe County will request a Locally Preferred Plan (LPP) to remove acquisition from the recommended plan. The plan will not move forward with mandatory acquisition if the waiver is not granted.

 How do I find out if my home will be affected by a nonstructural measure?

The study is only about halfway complete and the plan identified in the draft report is a tentatively selected plan. This means that while the basic components of the plan will likely remain the same between now and the plan that is ultimately recommended for construction at the end of the study, the number and location of structures recommended for each nonstructural measure will change as additional analysis is used to refine the tentatively selected plan. Further analysis and adjustments will also occur during future phases such as Pre-Construction Engineering and Design (PED) and Construction. Because the structures that are currently included in the plan may not be included in the final plan that is recommended at the end of the study, specific property information is not released at this point in the study.

 What is optimization? 

Optimization is the next step in the study process and involves further refinement of the Tentatively Selected Plan (TSP). Monroe County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — with input from stakeholders and the public — will complete additional analyses and use the results to refine the TSP into a more final plan. The optimization stage is June 2020 to March 2021.

 How will the study address environmental concerns?

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to take a hard look at how their actions affect the human and natural environment. To ensure NEPA compliance, the draft feasibility report includes an integrated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Compliance with other applicable federal environmental laws and statues is also addressed in the draft report. Interagency coordination is ongoing for this study.

 How will this study align with other U.S. Army Corps of Engineers efforts in Southeast Florida (including the South Atlantic Coastal Study)?

The South Atlantic Coastal Study (SACS) is a comprehensive study concurrently evaluating coastal storm risk and establishing general guidelines for risk-reduction actions on a regional scale. The findings of the Florida Keys CSRM study, which delivers higher-resolution measures with a recommended plan for construction, have been coordinated with the SACS study team.

 Why is green infrastructure not a bigger part of the plan to reduce coastal storm risk in the Florida Keys?

The study’s authorized purpose is coastal storm risk management. If green infrastructure can be incorporated to provide a significant and measureable reduction in coastal-risk drivers such as storm surge, wave energy and erosion, then it can be included in the study as a Natural and Nature-Based Feature, or NNBF. Although the value of green infrastructure (NNBF) is recognized and acknowledged, it is often difficult to quantify the benefits of NNBFs in the context of reduced economic impacts such as damage to infrastructure. The project ultimately recommended at the completion of this Coastal Storm Risk Management study must have a benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR) of 1.0 or greater in order to be authorized into law and implemented. NNBF features can only be included in the recommended plan if the reduction in economic impacts they provide are greater than the cost to implement them. Unfortunately, it has been difficult to achieve a positive BCR for NNBF within the framework for economic evaluation used in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planning process. NNBFs such as planting mangroves were removed from Florida Keys CSRM Study consideration in order to eliminate impacts to the protected hard-bottom habitat around the Florida Keys and because no appropriate locations for placing other NNBFs where they would reduce storm effects and not impact existing environmental resources could be identified.

 Why are structural measures such as storm-surge barriers and floodwalls not part of the plan to protect the community?

Structural measures such as storm-surge barriers and floodwalls are only effective if high ground exists for the structure to tie into. Otherwise, storm surge will wrap around the structure and still flood the area behind it. There is not sufficient high ground in an area like the Florida Keys, a low-lying chain of islands, for large-scale storm-surge barriers or floodwalls to be effective. These structures also do not perform effectively when placed on top of the porous limestone geology present throughout the Keys. The Florida Keys also serve as one of the country’s most popular tourism destinations due to the rich environmental resources in the area, including the world’s third-largest coral reef and 17 national and state parks. Tourism resulting from rich environmental resources is a major part of the area’s economy and would be negatively impacted by the construction of major structural measures such as storm-surge barriers and floodwalls.

 Will property values go down/up if I live in unprotected/protected areas?

We cannot predict the project’s impact on future property values. Property values may be affected by project implementation, but there are too many factors  to make a determination during this study. It is important to remember that property values will be impacted by future risk from coastal storm-based flooding, and this project strives to reduce risk from future coastal storms.

 Will these projects cause Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood insurance rate maps to change? Will it cause flood insurance rates go down/up if I live in protected/unprotected areas?

It is possible FEMA flood insurance rates could be reduced for some structures that are elevated or floodproofed; however, that is not this study’s primary goal and the final impact will be determined by FEMA. This study will not affect Flood Insurance Rate Maps as they are issued by FEMA.

 Can communities weigh in on the project’s design or specifics?

The feasibility study includes 10% design (a conceptual level of design) and further details will be developed if the project enters the Preconstruction Engineering and Design (PED) Phase. Two public meetings have been held with open comment periods since study initiation in the fall of 2018. The public is invited to participate in a virtual online public meeting to learn more about the study and findings and ask questions. Two identical virtual meetings will be held July 8 from 1-3 p.m. and July 13, 2020, from 5-7 p.m. Virtual office hours will be held on July 9from 1-2 p.m. and July 14, 2020, from 5-6 p.m. Comments may be provided in writing to FloridaKeysCSRM@usace.army.mil or by mail to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: Environmental Analysis Section, Norfolk District, 803 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510. The public comment period begins June 26, 2020, and ends Aug. 10, 2020.

 What if communities say they don’t want this: Will you go ahead with it anyway?

The project will only be implemented if an eligible cost-sharing nonfederal sponsor participates in project implementation.

 What if communities say they don’t want this: Will you go ahead with it anyway?

The project will only be implemented if an eligible cost-sharing nonfederal sponsor participates in project implementation.

 Have local governments been involved in this design?

The feasibility study includes 10% design (conceptual level design) and further details will be developed if the project enters the Preconstruction Engineering and Design (PED) Phase. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been actively working with Monroe County, the study’s nonfederal sponsor, which serves as liaison to the five municipalities within the Florida Keys. In addition, the USACE study team conducted webinars for local government staff and also provided a briefing on the tentatively selected plan (TSP) at city council meetings for all five municipalities. The project will only be implemented if an eligible cost-sharing nonfederal sponsor participates in project implementation. The nonfederal sponsor must have the capability to enter into a cost-share agreement with the federal government and be able to acquire the real estate necessary for the project.

 What happens to historic structures that can’t be raised? Will raising several buildings ruin a district’s historic character?

During Preconstruction Engineering and Design (PED), if any historic homes identified in the recommended plan are determined not eligible for evaluation due to structural constraints, then they will not be elevated. Recommendations to historic structures will ensure they remain classified as historic. Neighborhood cohesiveness will be considered during the feasibility study’s next phase and documented in the final report. No historic properties are currently recommended for acquisition.

 Shouldn’t we spend this money on projects that also address sea-level rise?

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers only has the authority to address risk caused by coastal storm events in this study, not the more broad effects of sea-level rise that may occur on a more frequent basis, such as “sunny day flooding” and “king tides.” However, sea-level rise is included in evaluation of the impacts expected from future coastal storms. It is also important to note that many project features, such as home elevation, will also be effective in mitigating future sea-level rise impacts.

Presentations & posters

2020 Virtual Public Meeting Presentation
2020 Virtual Public Meeting Presentation
(Virtual) Public Meeting Storyboards
 

Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study

Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers received disaster funds provided in Public Law 115-123, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. The act provides nearly $17.4 billion to the Corps for disaster recovery. Jacksonville District received $3.35 billion for long-term recovery investments in its area of responsibility, which includes Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This funding goes toward 13 studies and 22 projects that will reduce risk to communities damaged by storm events. So far, the total federal funding allocation for Jacksonville District recovery efforts exceeds $4 billion.

Announcements

Chief of Engineers signs report for Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Study - Monday, September 27, 2021

NORFOLK, Va. – Lt. Gen. Scott A. Spellmon, commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, signed the Chief’s Report for the Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management (CSRM) Study, recommending the study’s findings for authorization by Congress.

“This is an important milestone for USACE, Monroe County, and approximately 155,000 permanent and seasonal residents of the Florida Keys,” said Col. Brian Hallberg, Norfolk District commander. “This plan significantly adds to the County’s current efforts to promote resiliency and reduce the risks of coastal storm damage.”

The study began in October 2018 and addressed critical infrastructure, evacuation route protection, and structure damage reduction in response to coastal storm risks and considering sea level change. CSRM studies analyze and assess the economic, environmental, and social effects and formulate plans to address a local or regional issue with a goal to select, refine and present an optimal alternative that will be authorized and implemented on a cost shared basis with the non-federal sponsor.

The authority for the Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management study was granted under Public Law 84-71, dated June 15, 1955, which authorizes an examination and survey of the coastal and tidal areas of the eastern and southern United States, with particular focus on areas where severe damages have occurred from hurricanes. The study funds were appropriated by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 Public Law 115-123, at a federal cost of $3,000,000. 

USACE’s Norfolk District, in collaboration with Jacksonville District, completed the study. Monroe County was the study’s non-federal sponsor. 

The Chief’s Report will undergo further review by the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works and Office of Management and Budget before formal submittal to Congress. After congressional authorization, the project would be eligible for construction appropriations.

The recommended plan includes the following measures to reduce coastal storm risk and damage throughout the Florida Keys:

• Shoreline stabilization in six different locations along U.S. Route 1 (Overseas Highway) that were identified as having risk of damage due to erosion and/or wave energy during a storm event. These six rock revetment structures range in height from four to ten feet NAVD88 and were designed to reduce damage to a total of approximately 5,500 linear feet of roadway by stabilizing the shoreline and reducing the risk of washout. 

• Dry floodproofing 53 critical infrastructure buildings that were identified at risk to damage from coastal storms. Dry floodproofing will reduce the damage caused by storm surge during storm events so that emergency and critical services can resume more quickly after a storm event.

• Nonstructural measures to reduce coastal storm damage by elevating 4,698 residential and dry floodproofing 1,052 nonresidential structures at risk throughout the Keys. Nonstructural measures are applied to a structure to reduce damage from storm surge flooding. Participation is voluntary for the recommended nonstructural measures (elevation and floodproofing).

 

USACE releases final EIS and draft record of decision for public review - Thursday, August 26, 2021

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Norfolk District, in cooperation with our non-federal sponsor, the County of Monroe, announce the availability of a Final Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement (Final IFR/EIS) and Draft Record of Decision (ROD) for the Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study, for review.

The study evaluates identified flood risks and develops and evaluates coastal storm risk management measures for the Florida Keys portion of Monroe County.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the USACE determined that the project has the potential to have some significant environmental impacts, and developed the Final EIS and Draft ROD to examine and assess the impacts of all proposed action. 

The Final IFR/EIS and Draft ROD are available for a 30-day review period, pursuant to the NEPA.

 

USACE releases Final Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for State and Agency Review - Thursday, July 15, 2021

NORFOLK, Va. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released the Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Final Integrated Feasibility Report and EIS for State and Agency Review.

Agencies and other parties that have received letters inviting them to participate in the State and Agency Review may provide comments and recommendations on the Final Integrated Feasibility Report and EIS by Aug. 15, 2021. 

Please send your reply to florida-keys-chiefs-report@usace.army.milComments on the FEIS will be considered in the record of decision. A lack of response may be presumed to indicate that your agency has no comment to make.

The Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Final Integrated Feasibility Report and EIS is available on this webpage under "Study Documents."

If you have any questions on the proposed project or this request, you may contact Wesley E. Coleman, Jr., Chief, Office of Water Project Review, at (202) 761- 4102. 

 

USACE releases CSRM draft report - Wednesday, August 28, 2019

NORFOLK, Va. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Monroe County, its nonfederal sponsor, have released the Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement.

Community members can provide feedback on the draft plan through Aug. 10.

The Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement is available on this webpage under "Study documents."

The Draft IFR and EIS, prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, identifies coastal storm flood risks to residents, industries and businesses; develops risk-management measures, and evaluates their impacts to public and natural environments.

To submit comments on the Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study, email FloridaKeysCSRM@usace.army.mil or send by regular mail to: Ms. Kathy Perdue, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District, 803 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510. The deadline is Aug. 10.

For more information about the study, contact Kathy Perdue of USACE Norfolk District at 757-201-7218.