Report to Congress on Inclusion of Pacific Coastal Barriers in the National Coastal Barrier Resources System

The purpose of this report is to recommend to Congress whether or not to implement the Coastal Barrier Resources Act of 1982 (P.L. 97-348) on the Pacific coast. The Act established the Coastal Barrier Resources System (System) on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The Coastal Barrier Improvement Act (Act) (P.L. 101-591), which amended the Coastal Barrier Resources Act in 1990, expanded the System to include coastal barriers coastal barriers
Learn more about coastal barrier landforms.

Learn more about coastal barriers along the Great Lakes and additional areas along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The 1990 Act also established Otherwise Protected Areas, which are undeveloped coastal barriers protected by government or private interests. Section 6 of the Act required the Department of the Interior(Department) to study the appropriateness of including undeveloped coastal barriers along the Pacific coast south of49 degrees north latitude into the System. Congress excluded Alaskafrom the study.