About the Program

Bluff erosion and coastal flooding cause property damage, endanger public safety, and degrade environmental quality in the Nation’s coastal areas. While flooding in Pennsylvania is common to both of Pennsylvania’s coastal areas, bluff erosion is specific only to Lake Erie municipalities.

It is the policy of the CRM to:

• Require municipalities with bluff recession hazard areas along the Lake Erie shoreline to enact setback ordinances affecting stationary structures; Provide guidance to the municipalities to assure consistent and coordinated enforcement of the Bluff Recession Setback Act.
• Regulate the siting of any water obstruction or encroachments along Lake Erie in order to prevent unreasonable interference with water flow and to protect navigation.
• Assist Erie County and affected coastal municipalities in the preparation and implementation of stormwater management plans by assisting them in updating or amending codes, regulations, and ordinances to regulate development in such a manner as to mitigate the adverse impacts to Lake Erie bluffs due to increased rates of stormwater runoff.
• Provide technical assistance and advice concerning the design of methods for shore protection and bluff stabilization; Support scientific research on shore protection, recession rates, littoral transport, and other aspects of the coastal environment of Lake Erie.
• Assist and to help ensure that identified flood prone coastal municipalities develop state approved floodplain management regulations; Regulate the construction of or substantial improvement to various types of structures and obstructions in the designated floodplains

CRM in action:

• CRM has recently partnered with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to improve its capacity to address coastal hazards associated with climate change. Initiated under the program’s 2015 Section 309 Assessment and Strategy, this partnership is working to asses local municipal needs and provide resources for planning. Climate resiliency products and projections have been made available through a Pennsylvania Coastal Resiliency portal on Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s website.
• In the Lake Erie Coastal Zone, CRM hosts annual workshops for landowners, realtors, municipal officials, and other individuals operating or living on the shoreline. Topics range from Best Management Practices for property owners, to the effects of high lake levels on shoreline stability to permitting requirements for shoreline structures. Workshops are free and open to the public.
• CRM provided financial and technical assistance to Mercyhurst College to develop the Vegetative Best Management Practices: A Manual for Pennsylvania/Lake Erie Bluff Landowners. The document was revised recently in 2017 and gives property owners information on how to use and manage vegetation on their bluff properties in order to minimize erosion. (Link no longer available)

Links for more information:

• Lake Erie Bluff Recession

Dredging is an activity that is important to the economic vitality of Pennsylvania’s ports and for the recovery of commercially valuable sand and gravel. To attract and encourage the retention of economically viable port industry, it is necessary to maintain an open channel in the Delaware Estuary and in the channel entrance to the Erie Harbor area. Improper dredging, spoils disposal, and related activities can adversely impact navigation, flood flow capacity, public interest (public trust lands), and environmental quality.

It is the policy of the CRM to:

• Ensure that dredging, spoil disposal, and related activities including the recovery of commercially valuable sand and gravel, are regulated to protect against obstruction to navigation, reductions in flood flow capacity, damages to the public interest, and harmful impacts to fish and wildlife habitats.
• Recommend that hydraulic dredging be used instead of mechanical dredging, whenever feasible.

CRM in action:

• Dredging activities within federal navigation channels, mooring areas, and turning basins are conducted by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Dredging within recreational channels, marinas, and approaches to private port facilities are carried out by local port authorities or private entities that have control over those facilities. Dredging activities not directly conducted by the US Army Corps of Engineers still must have USACE authorization. CRM reviews all dredging activities within the coastal zones for federal consistency under the Coastal Zone Management Act.
• CRM has an approved interstate consistency program relating to dredging and dredge disposal and in-lake development in and near Conneaut, Ohio. CRM actively coordinates with the Ohio Coastal Program and the US Army Corps of Engineers when reviewing federal activities under that interstate consistency jurisdiction. This coordination seeks to assure that that suitable dredged sands and sediments will be deposited along the shoreline to make its way into Pennsylvania, instead of being placed in an offshore open lake disposal or upland facility. CRM’s federal approval (Jan 9, 2007).

Links for more information:

• Federal Consistency
• NOAA on Interstate Consistency

Both of Pennsylvania’s coastal areas once had significant commercial fisheries. In 1896, the Delaware River system, including the estuary, produced 20 million pounds of shad and 21 million pounds of oysters. Commercial fishing in Pennsylvania’s Delaware Estuary waters is practically nonexistent today. Erie’s commercial fishing industry reached its peak between 1910 and 1920 with catches averaging 800,000 pounds per year. The catch declined to less than 90,000 pounds per year in the 1960s, but in the 1970s improved to 110,000 pounds annually.

Recreational fishing, meantime, has been increasing at a rapid rate in the past decades. This has led to increased demand for management programs designed to increase native stocks and introduce appropriate species in the coastal waters, as well as for additional access sites. The management of fisheries in Pennsylvania’s coastal waters represents a very complex task requiring cooperation and coordination among all the various levels of governments and agencies.

It is the policy of the CRM to:

• Ensure that coastal waters shall not contain substances, attributable to point or nonpoint source waste discharges, in concentration or amounts sufficient to be harmful to the protected water uses or human, animal, plant, or aquatic life.
• Manage the Commonwealth’s coastal waters in such a manner to augment native stocks and introduce appropriate species, only after careful evaluation, to provide diverse, unique, and bountiful catches for the commonwealth’s coastal fishermen.
• Improve access to the Delaware Estuary and the Lake Erie waterfronts through the acquisition of new sites and the expansion of existing sites.
• Undertake detailed technical studies of coastal fisheries, their aquatic habitats, and associated issues that impact their management.

CRM in action:

• CRM has continually supported access development and restoration on many coastal fishing streams including Elk Creek, the largest and most popular fishing tributary in the Lake Erie Coastal Zone. Two of the very first coastal zone grants were dedicated to public access feasibility and stabilization studies in the early 1980s. Recommendations from these early reports were implemented over the following decades, supported by nine additional grants from the program, resulting in the abundance of public fishing and facilities currently available.
• Coastal Zone funding supports work of the Great Lakes Biologist to conduct research and outreach for important Great Lakes issues, including aquatic invasive species and water quality monitoring.
• In the Delaware Estuary Coastal Zone, the program supports identification, protection, and propagation of native freshwater mussels to improve water quality and conservation. The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary’s mussel recovery program has received several coastal zone grants from its initial development in 2007 to develop hatchery spawning methods to more recent work transplanting juvenile mussels in coastal zone waterbodies. CRM itself is currently conducting side scan sonar surveys of the tidal Delaware River to map existing mussel beds and develop a quick, inexpensive, and successful method to document general mussel locations using remote sensing technology. Delineated locations are being shared with partner organizations and agencies to ensure protection of these imperiled native species.

Links for more information:

• CRM Technical Projects
• Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

Wetlands represent a vital national resource of critical importance to the coastal areas of the Nation. In addition to providing habitat areas for fish and wildlife, wetlands provide natural flood control, improved water quality, flow stabilization, and environmental diversity. In the past, Pennsylvania has lost tremendous amounts of freshwater tidal and inland wetlands to draining, filling, bulkheading, and development. Additionally, the remaining wetlands are being threatened by the cumulative impacts of development that is occurring in adjacent areas.

It is the policy of the CRM to:

• Preserve, protect, enhance and restore the remaining wetlands within the Commonwealth’s coastal areas by regulating draining, dredging, filling, and other activities that affect water quality as well as the course, current or cross section of any watercourse, floodway, wetland or other body of water.
• Protect wetlands from cumulative impacts associated with increased runoff from development and other activities occurring in adjacent areas by encouraging the development of comprehensive stormwater management plans.

CRM in action:

• CRM has partnered with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to produce several wetland studies and associated publications. These include more recent and accurate National Wetland Inventory (NWI) mapping, functional assessment, potential restoration sites, and status and trends analysis. These publications can be found on the US Fish and Wildlife NWI website by using the site’s document search engine and entering the words “Pennsylvania coastal”.
• CRM provides local technical expertise, specific to the unique wetlands of the coastal areas, to help ensure more successful project planning and wetland protection, rehabilitation, restoration, and creation.
• CRM has partnered with other agencies and local groups to help acquire and protect important wetland areas by providing funding through the CRM grants program.
• CRM maintains a library of historical aerial photography that can be used to determine wetland losses and changes over time.

Links for more information:

• Coastal Zone Aerial Photography

There is a significant demand for access to the waterfront and shoreline of both Lake Erie and the tidal Delaware River. People seek access for boating and fishing, swimming, sight-seeing, strolling, and relaxing near the water. There have been significant recent gains in needed trails and accessible tidal shorelines in the Southeast, led by an established network of partners. In the Northwest, access is more widely available due to the locations of state parks and gamelands in the coastal zone.

It is the policy of the CRM to:

• Provide additional public access opportunities along the waterfronts of Lake Erie and the Delaware River for active recreation such as swimming, fishing, and boat launching, as well as for more passive activities such as sightseeing and picnicking.

CRM in action:

• From 2012-2020, CRM has dedicated $1.7M to pass-through grants funding public access development and enhancement in the coastal zones. CRM partners with organizations tasked for constructing parks and trails, including Schuylkill River Development Corporation in the Southeast and various organizations in Erie County, to leverage planning grants from the program into multi-million dollar trails and parks once constructed. In the Delaware Estuary coastal zone, these investments have resulted in 5 miles of constructed new trails, 7 new access sites, and 11 improvements to existing sites in the last seven years. In the Lake Erie coastal zone, CRM has funded 3 newly constructed trails, 8 new access sites, and 8 improvements to existing sites.
• In Philadelphia, the rapidly growing Schuylkill Banks portion of the Schuylkill River trail has received $870,000 in coastal zone grants since 2001 to develop connections from Fairmount Water Works to Bartram’s Garden. This includes funding for docks, a fishing pier, composting restroom, educational programs, and trail segment planning, including downstream portions to eventually connect with the Delaware River.
• CRM supports its networked partner agency, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the invaluable public access offered by Presque Isle State Park and Erie Bluffs State Park in the Lake Erie coastal zone. Combined these properties offer almost 4,000 acres of swimming, boating, fishing, and hiking opportunities.

Historic preservation is a concern at the national, state, and local level with established economic, cultural, aesthetic, and educational benefits. The Commonwealth’s coastal areas contain some of the state’s oldest communities, with large concentrations of historic sites. By making history more real and less abstract, historic buildings, sights and structures foster an appreciation and understanding of the past.

It is the policy of the CRM to:

• Assist the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in the identification, restoration, and preservation of archaeologically, architecturally and historically significant sites and structures in the commonwealth’s coastal zones.

CRM in action:

• CRM utilized side scan sonar acoustic imaging and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) video collection to document the present locations and statuses of known shipwrecks in Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie waters. This work has contributed to the formation of the Pennsylvania Archaeology and Shipwreck Survey Team (PASST) facilitated by the Regional Science Consortium and of which CRM is a member.
• In the last forty years, the program has funded many projects to renovate, redevelop, and enhance historical sites in both coastal zones. Pennsbury Manor is a reconstruction of William Penn’s home along the Delaware River in Bucks County and has received assistance from CRM beginning in 1982 to conduct an archeological investigation, develop exhibit plans, renovate landscaping, enhance public access, and restore historical buildings on the site. Along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, the program continues another long-term partnership with Bartram’s Garden National Historic Landmark, providing funding to construct a boat dock, restore historic gardens and the house, in addition to supporting phases of Schuylkill Banks trail development through the site.
• Lighthouses are distinctive coastal historic features, especially along Lake Erie. CRM provided three grants to support the archaeological investigation of the Erie Land Lighthouse and more recently supported restoration of the 150-year-old Presque Isle Lighthouse in 2013. Along the Bayfront, the program financed renovation of the exterior of the Chestnut Street Historic Boathouse, in addition to earlier construction of its adjacent boat ramp.

Links for more information:

• Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
• Pennsylvania Archaeology and Shipwreck Survey Team (PASST)

Pennsylvania’s ports represent a vital link between the water and the inland transportation systems and constitute a national as well as a regional resource.

The ports in the Delaware Estuary coastal zone are particularly well equipped to handle bulk cargo, with the petroleum industry accounting for much of the port’s import tonnage. The port and petroleum industries, in turn, support related activities such as warehousing, trucking, chemical industries, and primary metals. The Port of Erie is one of the finest natural harbors on the Great Lakes because it provides excellent storm protection and winter layover areas. The port’s marine terminal boasts the largest capacity crane facilities and one of only two shipbuilding facilities on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes.

It is the policy of the CRM to:

• Actively attract and encourage the siting of port dependent economic activities in the commonwealth’s coastal ports.
• Support long-range, comprehensive planning for the future development and growth of the Port of Erie and the Pennsylvania ports of the Delaware Estuary, which encourages the attraction, enhancement, and development of water dependent economic activities.
• Encourage the enhancement of current viable economic activities, attraction of new economic activities which adapt to the areas’ changing needs, and improvements in the areas’ infrastructure to provide a strong economic base for the urbanized sections of the commonwealth’s coastal zones.

CRM in action:

• The program provided a grant in 2014 to the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (now PhilaPort) to analyze the feasibility of a marine highway between the Port of Philadelphia and select port pairings along its corridor. The goal to increase short sea waterborne trade routes along established navigable waterways and shipping lanes, alleviation the increasing demand for truck and trail freight. This initial study is currently being implemented to support the economic growth and development of waterborne trade and commerce in the Delaware Estuary coastal zone.
• CRM continues its long-term partnership with the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority, supporting its goal of promoting industrial, commercial, and recreational opportunities on Presque Isle Bay and adjacent waters. The Authority owns a significant 471 acres of Bayfront property, which has received many coastal zone grants since the 1980s to enhance public access and economic development. More recently, CRM has supported improvements to the East Avenue Boat Launch ramp and replacement of the courtesy and fuel gas docks at Lampe Marina, in addition to funding development of its 2009 waterfront master plan.

Energy production is a problem of national as well as state and regional significance. Pennsylvania’s coastal zones are no exception. The increasing demand for energy coupled with the inherent location advantages the coastal zones offer to the siting of many energy facilities, makes it likely that additional facilities will be located in the Commonwealth’s coastal areas in the future. Although these facilities are vital to the coastal areas, as well as the Commonwealth’s continued economic viability, improper siting of facilities can damage fragile coastal ecosystems. CRM strives to balance the needs of a robust energy economy with healthy ecosystems and thriving communities.

It is the policy of the CRM to:

• Ensure through regulations that energy facilities such as oil and gas refineries, electric generating stations and substations, gas drilling, and liquification of natural gas operations locating in the coastal areas are sited in such a manner that the coastal areas ecosystems are not unreasonably adversely affected.
• Facilitate the production of natural gas supplies in Lake Erie using proper environmental safeguards that are designed to minimize adverse air and water quality impacts associated with resource exploration and development.
• Support the development of outer continental shelf oil and gas resources through all available means, provided that the necessary environmental safeguards are enforced through regulation by the appropriate federal and state agencies to ensure that the integrity of the adjacent fish and wildlife habitat is not irreparably damaged due to drilling and other development activities.

CRM in action:

• CRM has worked to document the locations of Lake Erie shipwrecks in preparation for potential energy development within the lake. This work has contributed to the development of the CRM Lake Erie Shipwrecks Story Map.
• CRM reviews the placement of energy facilities through CZMA federal consistency process. Energy facilities require the issuance of federal FERC licenses and, if occupying submerged lands, United States Army Corps of Engineers permits. For example, in 2016 CRM conducted a federal consistency review and provided its concurrence for an international power transmission cable through Lake Erie between the US and Canada.

The CRM is based on a networking principle. Presently, actions within the coastal zones are regulated by a variety of state agencies with varying mandates. Therefore, it is vitally important that mechanisms are developed that ensure that all departments, commissions, and other agencies which administer programs or issue permits in the Commonwealth’s coastal zones do so in a clear, concise, and coordinated manner to ensure program consistency.

It is the policy of the CRM to:

• Administer a program of “state consistency” to ensure that all state administrative departments and independent administrative boards and commissions and other state agencies shall enforce and act consistently with the enforceable policies of CRM.
• Adopt the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act and federal Clean Air Act and to incorporate these requirements into CRM.
• Periodically initiate, coordinate, and participate in comprehensive studies aimed at improving the regulatory permitting process in the commonwealth’s coastal zones.

CRM in action:

• CRM coordinates with state and federal permitting agencies and departments for various regulated activities. For more information contact your local coastal resource coordinator:
  • Lake Erie Coastal Zone - Shelby Clark at 814-217-9634 or shelclark@pa.gov
  • Delaware Estuary Coastal Zone – Randy Brown at 484-250-5163 or rabrown@pa.gov

• The Urban Waterfront Action Group (UWAG) was organized by CRM in 1980 to provide a voluntary “one-stop” shop for information about waterfront development permits. CRM funds the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to coordinate monthly meetings to discuss project reviews and relevant topics.

It is the policy of the CRM to:

• Ensure that all meetings, where formal action is to be taken, be open to the public, preceded by public notice and held in reasonably accessible locations.
• Provide citizens, special interest groups, and all other segments of the public with opportunities for early and continuous involvement and participation in CRM.
• Coordinate the Coastal Zone Advisory Committee (CZAC) whose purpose is to provide a forum from which to address state and local coordination on coastal issues, periodically review the CRM with respect to public responsiveness and meeting the needs of the commonwealth, and to advise the Environmental Quality Board on regulations affecting coastal resources.

CRM in action:

• CRM leads the state-level Coastal Zone Advisory Committee (CZAC), in addition coordinating with the Lake Erie and Delaware Estuary local coastal zone advisory committees.
• The CZAC typically meets twice a year and provides technical advice and coordination with the CRM. Meetings are conducted in compliance with the Pennsylvania Sunshine Law and members of the public are welcome to attend. The Committee is comprised of representatives from other state agencies and commissions, including: The Governor’s Policy Office, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Department of Community and Economic Development, Department of Transportation, Fish and Boat Commission, Historical and Museum Commission, Public Utility Commission, and Game Commissions. Membership lists, bylaws, agendas, and past meeting minutes can be accessed at the link below.
• The local coastal zone advisory committees have operated since the start of the program in the 1970s and coordinate with the state CRM program, local officials, and coastal residents. They provide a vital regional and public perspective on coastal issues. CRM supports the Erie County Department of Planning and Community Development to administer the Lake Erie advisory committee and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to administer the Delaware Estuary advisory committee.
• CRM values its local committees and partnerships with the other local, regional, and national organizations. These relationships allow the program to leverage cooperative progress toward shared coastal priorities.

Links for more information:

• Coastal Zone Advisory Committee

Ocean resources provide significant environmental, recreational, and economic benefits to Pennsylvania’s coastal communities and the Commonwealth as a whole. Lake Erie’s Presque Isle attracts millions of visitors annually for swimming, boating, and picnicking. Opportunities for recreational boating, fishing and scuba diving are also abundant throughout other parts of the region, and Erie’s international port connects this coastal community to the Great Lakes and beyond. The Delaware Estuary, an essential habitat for migratory populations of shad, herring, striped bass, and sturgeon also boasts the largest freshwater port in the world. More than 3,000 cargo vessels and an expanding number of cruise ships dock in the international ports of Philadelphia each year. Balancing ocean resource management with competing economic uses, and coordinating these efforts across the ecologically distinct coastal zones of Lake Erie and the Delaware Estuary will require cooperation among state and federal agencies, regional authorities, and local communities.

It is the policy of the CRM to:

• Actively assist in preventing aquatic nuisance species from being introduced into, spread within, or transferred out of the coastal zones to other waters/watersheds of the commonwealth, and to facilitate their eradication.
• Limit the introduction and spread of aquatic nuisance species in the coastal zone by providing funding and technical assistance to encourage development of research and outreach programs that will effectively reduce the impact of aquatic nuisance species on Pennsylvania’s ocean resources, a coordinated, multi-species approach to aquatic nuisance species management, and a rapid response plan for unintentional introductions.

CRM in action:

• CRM participated in the creation of the Governor’s Invasive Species Council, established under Executive Order 2004-1 and reenacted in 2017, and actively participates in quarterly meetings and associated activities. The Governor’s Invasive Species Council, also referred to as the Pennsylvania Invasive Species Council (PISC), is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. CRM has provided funding for invasive species management planning and outreach to help support the goals of PISC and its partners.
• CRM participates in assessments and surveys that help to determine and document the presence and distribution of invasive species. This information is shared through the Pennsylvania iMapInvasives program that provides an online platform where invasive species sightings and management efforts in Pennsylvania can be recorded and shared.
• CRM currently serves as a designee for the Department on the Controlled Plant and Noxious Weed Committee, established by Act 46 of 2017, and administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. The committee is responsible for designating noxious weeds and controlled plants regulated under the act.

Links for more information:

• Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Noxious, Invasive and Poisonous Plant Program
• Governor’s Invasive Species Council of Pennsylvania
• Controlled Plants and Noxious Weeds Law
• Pennsylvania iMap Invasives