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Subcommittee hears bipartisan support for Digital Coast reauthorization to aid coastal planning
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Summary
Rep. Minh and witnesses told the subcommittee HR 42 56 would reauthorize NOAA’s Digital Coast program, preserving free public coastal datasets and tools used by local governments, researchers and private firms for planning, hazard mapping and emergency response.
WASHINGTON — The subcommittee heard bipartisan testimony supporting HR 42 56, the Digital Coast Reauthorization Act of 2025, introduced by Rep. Young Kim Minh. The bill would reauthorize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Digital Coast program for five years and make technical changes intended to keep its datasets and tools available to the public.
Rep. Minh described Digital Coast as a ‘‘federal–local partnership’’ that compiles high-resolution datasets on coastal hazards, elevation, land cover and economic impacts and hosts interactive tools and training used by emergency planners, local governments and private-sector firms. He said America’s coasts are home to nearly 40 percent of the nation’s population and produce significant economic output; those coastal communities rely on Digital Coast to model flood risks, design evacuation routes and plan climate adaptation.
Minh cited success stories including use of Digital Coast data by the California Geological Survey for tsunami modeling and by University of California, Irvine, for coastal flood-risk pilot projects in Orange County. He said NOAA projects a substantial return on investment from Digital Coast datasets over the next 15 years and noted letters of support from coastal NGOs and state emergency offices were entered into the record.
No formal committee action was taken. Supporters urged passage of the reauthorization to ensure continued free public access to datasets that local governments and private firms use for hazard mitigation and planning. Committee members signaled interest in ensuring NOAA is represented in follow-up oversight and asked staff to include supporting letters and technical clarifications in the record.
