Coastal Barrier Resources System screening is now part of Groundcheck reports in covered coastal states and territories. The new check compares the saved property with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data for System Units, Otherwise Protected Areas, and the mapped boundary-accuracy zone.
The result can surface an important financing and insurance question early. The Coastal Barrier Resources Act does not prohibit privately funded development, but it can restrict specified federal expenditures, assistance, and flood insurance depending on the unit type, effective date, structure, and statutory exceptions.
What the federal source provides
USFWS administers the Coastal Barrier Resources Act and maintains the official Coastal Barrier Resources System maps. Its public ArcGIS service includes prohibition polygons with unit identifiers, unit type, flood-insurance prohibition dates, and System Unit establishment dates. Separate layers provide the approximately 20-foot digital boundary-accuracy zone and official map-panel links.
USFWS listed the downloadable data as last modified December 19, 2024 when this Groundcheck layer was added. The service covers designated barriers along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Great Lakes coasts, plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It does not represent a nationwide coastal-risk model.
How Groundcheck screens the property
Groundcheck intersects the saved parcel boundary with the prohibition and accuracy-zone layers, preserves distinct effective dates, and includes returned evidence polygons in the expandable finding map. When a parcel boundary is unavailable, it runs a clearly labeled approximate check within 30 meters of the saved property point.
A parcel intersection with a System Unit receives high screening concern because of the potential effect on federal support and National Flood Insurance Program eligibility. An Otherwise Protected Area or boundary-accuracy-zone intersection receives moderate concern. A point-only result never receives high concern because it is approximate.
System Units and protected areas are not the same
In a System Unit, most new federal expenditures and financial assistance are restricted, subject to statutory exceptions. In an Otherwise Protected Area, the restriction generally applies to federal flood insurance, with exceptions for qualifying structures used consistently with the area's protected purpose.
Neither label means Groundcheck has decided that development is prohibited or that flood insurance is unavailable. A result should lead to review of the linked official map and, when the boundary or eligibility matters, a USFWS property determination.
- Review the unit identifier, unit type, effective dates, and official map panel.
- Identify federal permits, funding, infrastructure, lending, or insurance connected to the project.
- Compare the mapped area with the parcel boundary, existing structures, and proposed improvements.
- Request official USFWS documentation when a transaction depends on the boundary.
Why this remains a screening layer
The official CBRS maps control when they differ from digital data. USFWS describes the digital boundaries as generally accurate to approximately 20 feet, and the true seaward extent is not completely shown. Effective dates, pre-existing structures, substantial improvements, park-use exceptions, and other statutory provisions can change the practical result.
No CBRS intersection does not rule out coastal flooding, erosion, wetlands, habitat, insurance, or permitting concerns. Use Groundcheck to identify the question early, then rely on USFWS, insurers, lenders, agencies, surveys, and qualified professionals for project-specific decisions.
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Groundcheck combines this source with parcel details and other available national, state, and local layers.
Start a property check See every Groundcheck data layerGroundcheck provides early public data screening, not a legal, engineering, surveying, environmental, planning, permitting, or buildability determination. Verify important findings with the responsible agencies and qualified professionals.