Congressional hearing examines bill to remove North Topsail Beach parcels from Coastal Barrier Resources System

A House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing on HR 1885 focused on a proposal to revise the Coastal Barrier Resources System map for North Topsail Beach, North Carolina, removing a portion of Unit L06 from COBRA.

Supporters, including bill sponsor Rep. Greg Murphy and Town of North Topsail Beach Alderman Tom Leonard, said the change would correct a decades-old mapping error that has prevented homeowners and the town from accessing federal programs such as the National Flood Insurance Program and certain U.S. Army Corps shore-protection projects. "This issue is about righting a wrong made by the United States government," Murphy said, urging the committee to move the bill.

The fight over HR 1885 centers on whether the northern end of Topsail Island met the statutory criteria for inclusion in COBRA when the system was mapped in 1982. Leonard testified that the town had a "full complement of infrastructure" before COBRA was enacted: reinforced roads existed along the length of the island, Jones-Onslow Electric provided power since the 1940s, and water and sewer lines reached the northernmost areas by the end of 1981. "We just want to be treated like the two other towns on Topsail Island," Leonard said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's acting deputy director, Dave Maiko, told the subcommittee that the Service's review of Unit L06 leads it to a different estimate than the bill's sponsors. Maiko said the Service "estimates that this will remove over 1,000 acres from Unit L06, as well as roughly 600 structures and potentially hundreds of additional mobile homes and vacant lots," and noted that parcels removed from COBRA would become eligible for multiple federal subsidies.

Opponents warned of broader consequences. Dr. Rob Young, a coastal geologist, emphasized COBRA's role in reducing taxpayer exposure to repetitive disaster spending and protecting natural storm buffers. He testified that "COBRA has saved $9,500,000,000 in federal disaster aid between 1989 and 2013." Ranking Member Jared Huffman warned that the bill, as written, "would shift the cost of this risky development onto the backs of federal taxpayers and really, potentially unravel the entire COBRA system."

Members pressed both sides on specifics. Supporters pointed to local zoning maps and historic infrastructure records to argue many lots were served by utilities before 1982; the Service and some witnesses said prior adjudications and map revisions weigh against wholesale removals based solely on local zoning.

No formal committee vote occurred at the hearing. Members asked for follow-up materials from Fish and Wildlife and local officials and indicated they would submit additional questions for the record.

The hearing highlighted the tension between correcting local mapping errors and preserving the statutory intent of the Coastal Barrier Resources Act to limit federal subsidies in high-risk coastal areas. The committee left the record open for additional evidence and responses before any markup or further action.