Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 504

FORMERLY

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 62

CREATING A TASK FORCE FOR PURPOSES OF IDENTIFYING AND EVALUATING ECONOMICALLY EFFICIENT AND ENVIRONMENTALLY PRUDENT APPROACHES TO REPLENISHING THE ERODING BEACHES ALONG DELAWARE'S COASTLINE.

WHEREAS, the beaches along the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay coastlines are one of the greatest natural resources of Delaware; and

WHEREAS, the communities situated on Delaware's coastline provide to all Delawareans access to the natural beauty of our beaches and further offer vital recreation and vacation opportunities for the Delaware residents; and

WHEREAS, Delaware beaches constitute an attraction of regional importance in that thousands of individuals and families from around the country travel to Delaware beaches to spend leisure time and vacation dollars in the State; and

WHEREAS, the condition of these same beaches, is consistently devastated by brutal winter weather and continuing natural erosion; and

WHEREAS, the State of Delaware has been required to spend millions of increasingly scarce tax dollars in attempts to renourish and replenish the eroding beaches; and

WHEREAS, the Governor and the General Assembly believe the vitality of Delaware's coastline and the coastal communities is crucial to the state's economic future and that the beaches constitute a natural resource worthy of preservation; and

WHEREAS, the 138th General Assembly passed House C6ncurrent Resolution No. 1 which established a task force to develop strategies and to identify and evaluate economically efficient and environmentally prudent approaches to replenishing the eroding beaches along Delaware's coastline; and

WHEREAS, the task force created by the 138th General Assembly made considerable progress, but was unable to complete its work due to the lack of a cost-benefit analysis, which is now available.

NOW THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the 139th General Assembly of the State of Delaware, the Senate concurring therein, that:

1. A Task Force is hereby established, the membership of which shall consist of the following individuals or their designees:

a. The Mayor from the towns of Lewes, Rehoboth, Fenwick Island, Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach and South Bethany Beach, Slaughter Beach, and Bowers Beach;

b. The County Executive of Sussex County;

c. The State Representatives of the 33rd, 36th, 37th, and 38th Representative

f. The The State Senators of the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 20th Senatorial Districts;

e. Two Representatives from the University of Delaware’s College of Marine Studies;

f. Three Representatives from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control; and

. One Representative from the Delaware Development Office.

2. A member of the Task Force shall be selected by the Governor as Chairperson of the Task Force, and shall serve in said capacity at the Governor's pleasure.

3. The Task Force shall:

a. Meet as required to identify and evaluate the technical, economical, and philosophical approaches to replenishing and renourishing Delaware's beaches;

b. Consider beach and property protection options including, but not limited to, the construction of bulk heads and strategic retreat to increase and preserve the vitality of Delaware's coastline;

c. Examine the methods of funding capital improvements to beaches, including broader based funding sources;

d. Resolve the question of what qualifies a beach to be a public beach versus beaches which are private;

e. Advise the Governor, the Director of the Delaware Development Office, and the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and other public officials regarding their findings with respect to beach replenishment;

f. Report its findings and recommendations of the foregoing topic to the Governor, Speaker of the House, and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate by February 28, 1999, with an interim report to be presented no later than October 30, 1998.

Approved July 1, 1998