1. Examination
of the legal regime governing post disaster response recovery in North
Carolina and proposals for addressing flaws, in conjunction
with the Center for the Study of Natural Hazards and Disasters, and the
Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence - Natural
Disasters, Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency Management (DIEM). Funded by a grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
This
project recognizes that the response in the United States to natural
disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires is woefully inadequate, and
that climate change will presumably exacerbate the problems we are
already experiencing. CLEAR and its affiliates are examining these
issues and seek to find optimal solutions to improve post disaster
response.
2. Examination of whether greenhouse
gas offsets are "regulatorily eligible" to be considered and offset
under additionality criteria, in conjunction with the Research Triangle Institute and the Nicholas Institute at Duke University. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
This
project is part of a study on how offsets in a greenhouse gas
regulatory system are to be certified. Other issues being explored by
grant partners include the issue of "stacking" of greenhouse gas
credits with other environmental commodity credits.
3.
Examination of options for the regulation of greenhouse gases under the
Clean Air Act, in conjunction with the Nicholas Institute at Duke University.
This ongoing project examines the
legal authority and potential regulatory vehicle for the U.S. EPA's
regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
4.
Study of the issues the inner coast of North Carolina will face over
the next one to two decades, in conjunction with the North Carolina Coastal Resources Law, Planning and Policy Center at UNC. Partially funded by a grant from North Carolina SEA Grant.
One
aspect of the planned study is an examination of the impact of climate
change and rising sea levels on freshwater resources and other coastal
infrastructure. The CLEAR portion of this project recognizes the need
to examine the management of inner coastal development. Most of the
coastal plain lies only a few feet above sea level, so any significant
rise in sea level will have significant consequences for the many
coastal communities and lands lying along North Carolina's coastal
rivers, coastal streams and estuarine waters. There have been many
studies concerning the coastal barrier islands, but fewer studies
examine the inner coast even though it is coming under tremendous
development pressures with, in some cases, little planning or land and
water use controls.
NC Coastal Resources Law, Planning and Policy Center (2009), Developing a Management Strategy for North Carolina's Coastal Ocean (Report of the Ocean Policy Steering Committee).
5.
Comparative examination of the impacts of climate change on resources
and society, and the legal responses to those impacts,
in conjunction
with the Center for the Study of Natural Hazards and Disasters, and the
Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence - Natural
Disasters, Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency Management (DIEM).
In
order to more fully understand the needs of areas facing climate change
challenges, this project compares how different legal regimes address
climate problems. In particular, this study will examine Alaska, New
Zealand and the Netherlands. CLEAR has a particular expertise in the
mineral leasing laws, U.S. environmental and resource laws, and Native
Alaskan legal status.
6. Weatherization Working
Group - a student-run pro bono project aimed at developing a
weatherization program for low-income public housing in the town of
Chapel Hill.
Students and a faculty adviser are
working with the town of Chapel Hill to design a program to weatherize
the town's low-income public housing. Eventually, with CLEAR
researchers, this knowledge will be used to design a prototype
weatherization program for small towns across the country.
7.
Examination of the failure of various insurance regimes to give proper
economic incentives with respect to natural disasters and climate
change.
Using examples of insurance problems from
coastal communities in the United States and around the world, CLEAR
hopes to examine sustainable coastal insurance practices in the face of
increasing natural disasters due to climate change.
Daniel E. Peterson, Financial
Adaptation through Parametric Insurance Products: Utilizing the
Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility as a Model for a Proposed
United States National Catastrophe Risk Consortium.
Work
has already proceeded on the North Carolina insurance system. The North
Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association ("the Beach Plan") is a
residual market mechanism that was created by the state to serve as an
"insurer of last resort" for properties on the coast that are otherwise
unable to find insurance, particularly to cover wind and hail damage.
Membership is compulsory for all insurance companies that write
property insurance anywhere in the state, regardless of whether they
insure property at the coast. In 2008, this forced the residual
insurance pool to become unsustainable. Due to artificially low
insurance rates, the Beach Plan had become the insurer of "first
resort" for over $132 billion in insured properties. Yet the Beach Plan
did not have enough in reserve to cover its liabilities for what
insurers call the "probable maximum loss" ("PML"), and would depend
significantly on unlimited "nonrecoupable assessments" on all of the
state's private property insurers to pay any excess liability. Insurers
began leaving the state rather than face the unlimited assessments. In
Fall 2008, the Legislature convened a study commission to investigate
and make recommendations for corrective legislation.
In
Summer 2009, the Beach Plan Reform Bill was passed and made inroads
into solving several major Beach Plan problems. Premiums at the coast
were raised. A 1% deductible was also enacted to ensure that coastal
residents were bearing a more appropriate amount of their own risk (and
to encourage them to adopt cost-effective mitigation measures such as
storm windows and reinforced doors and roofs). Coverage limits were
reduced from $1.5 million to $750,000 to reduce Beach Plan liabilities.
In the event of a loss that exhausted reserves and reinsurance,
insurers will contribute up to $1 billion and, for any remaining
losses, may be charged "recoupable" assessments that "may" be recovered
from property/policyholders statewide through a 10% (maximum) annual
surcharge.