Expand the program of flood hazard area clearance. Coordinate with other federal agencies to ensure protection of these lands from encroachment and fill. Disallow recurring flood insurance claims totaling more than the property value. Delineate coastal erosion zones and deny flood insurance for these zones. The League also encourages flood-prone communities to implement the zoning policies and construction standards required for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program.
Commercial navigation is only a part of the nation's transportation picture.
Navigation development should not be regarded as an integral part of every water development program or an automatic need for every major river. Navigation development should proceed only where needed clearly to advance public benefits from transportation as a whole, only where economically justified, and only to the extent that other values of water and related resources are not impaired unduly. For example, the League has been concerned about the effects of commercial navigation on the upper Mississippi River ecosystem and therefore opposes expansion of navigation capacity in the basin. The costs of navigation development should be paid in the form of user fees by those who benefit directly. Barge fleeting and mooring on the inland waterways should be regulated through a system of permits by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard and the states to protect safety, fish and wildlife habitats, water quality, recreation and natural areas.