Three Key Takeaways: Challenges and Solutions to Permitting Living Shoreline Projects

Across the United States, interest and investment is growing in the use of nature-based solutions—actions to protect, sustainably manage or restore natural or modified ecosystems to address societal challenges. Yet significant barriers remain to implementing them more widely, including permitting processes.

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A new working paper published by Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability examines how Florida, North Carolina and Virginia are surmounting permitting hurdles to expand the use of one type of nature-based solution—living shorelines.

Commonly used in coastal areas, living shorelines incorporate natural elements such as marsh grasses, oyster reefs and rock sills to stabilize shorelines. They offer numerous benefits for people and nature, including preventing erosion, reducing flooding, absorbing wave energy, improving water quality, sequestering carbon and providing habitat for wildlife habitats.

The paper summarizes findings from expert conversations and a literature review to identify specific permitting challenges for living shorelines and actions or reforms to overcome them. Here are three key takeaways:

1. Permitting processes tend to favor gray infrastructure over green infrastructure. Living shorelines are often more complicated to permit than shoreline hardening techniques like seawalls and bulkheads, which incentivizes property owners to opt for the latter. Passed in 2020, Virginia Senate Bill 776 is an example of legislation aimed at eliminating the regulatory preference for hardened structures and instead encouraging green infrastructure where feasible.

2. More technical assistance and data are needed for both permit applicants and regulatory staff. The authors recommend more research on living shorelines to ensure permit application criteria and permit review decisions are based on the best available science and are not being overly cautious in preventing beneficial projects.

3. Simplify the permitting process and better coordinate permitting across federal, state and local jurisdictions. One potential solution is to establish regionally coordinated joint permitting systems in which a single permit application gets forwarded to relevant federal, state and local agencies. Each application would be reviewed by designated staff specifically trained on the best approaches for that region.

The paper was written by Nicholas Institute experts Sara Mason and Lydia Olander, along with Chloe Wetzler, who is pursuing a master of environmental management degree at the Nicholas School of the Environment and a juris doctorate at the Duke University School of Law.

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CITATION: Wetzler, C., S. Mason, and L. Olander. 2024. Challenges and Solutions to Permitting Living Shoreline Projects: Lessons Learned from Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. NI WP 24-03. Durham, NC: Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Duke University. https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/publications/challenges-and-solutions-permitting-living-shoreline-projects.