Federal Evaluation of Pennsylvania's CRM Program

Section 312 of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) of 1972, as amended, requires the NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) to review and evaluate Pennsylvania's performance in managing its coastal resources and in implementing programs assisted financially under the CZMA. Site visits are an essential part of the process. The OCRM conducted its most recent site visit September 13-17, 2010, to review Pennsylvania's operation and management of the Coastal Zone Management Program (CZM) covering the period from August 2005 through September 2010.

OCRM examined the extent to which Pennsylvania is addressing the national coastal management objectives contained in Section 303 (2) of the CZMA, implementing and enforcing the CZM, and adhering to the terms and conditions of financial assistance awards under the CZMA. This review also assessed Pennsylvania's progress in addressing the concerns expressed in the last 312 Evaluation Findings, dated February 2006. To document Pennsylvania's activities in each of these areas, substantial emphasis is placed on the information included in the performance reports, and information gathered during the site visit. During the site visit, the Evaluation Team spoke with representatives of Federal, State, and local agencies and interest groups involved with Pennsylvania's coastal management efforts. The Evaluation Team reported in its evaluation findings that Pennsylvania "is successfully implementing and enforcing the federally-approved coastal management program."

NOAA recently conducted an updated evaluation of the program for the period of October 2010 to November 2019. The resulting findings document is being finalized and will be posted when available.