An Ounce of Prevention in New York City As I note in my article about climate change, rising seas and the risks for New York City, many local governments in the United States are drafting contingency plans to address the prospect of more severe flooding in coming decades. "Different cities are ahead in different things," said Vicki Arroyo, executive director of the Georgetown Climate Center, a think tank that assists cities in adapting to climate change. Still, she said, few municipalities feel fully prepared, and most struggle to come up with the funds they need to shore up their resistance. "There's no federal requirement, there's no law that's compelling anyone to do this, much less pay for it," she said. No one would say we've got it covered. Yet last fall, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission took a controversial step toward self-defense, requiring developers of all new projects to incorporate flood risks into their construction plans. The regulations require all new construction along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay, which extends about 1,000 miles, to be capable of withstanding the sea levels anticipated through 2050 and for plans to be in place for coping with an even higher sea-level rise expected by the end of the century. "You may need levees -- or to build projects higher -- and leave room to raise the levees after that," said Steve Goldbeck, acting executive director of the regional state agency. Mr. Goldbeck said projections in the area call for sea levels to be 16 inches higher by midcentury and 55 inches higher in 100 years. Most buildings, he said, have a life span of at least 50 years. The point of the regulations is not to curb development but rather to protect buildings and prevent money from being wasted in the long run, he said. "We do know that the cost of a 55-inch sea level rise in the bay could be in the order of $60 billion just to replace what's there now," he said. We decided that this was something we couldn't ignore. New York City has not imposed such requirements for new construction, but some developers are incorporating flood protection elements nonetheless based on projections from the New York City Panel on Climate Change. One is Sims Metal Management Municipal Recycling, which has a plant under construction in that is scheduled to open next year in Sunset Park in Brooklyn. Four buildings at the 11-acre site, which sits on a pier at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, are being raised four feet higher than specified by current coastline requirements so they can stay ahead of the expected sea level rise over the next four decades. Fill made of recycled glass and crushed "mole rock" discarded from the Second Avenue subway line and other construction projects is being used to raise the $100 million complex, which will recycle metal, glass and plastic from the city's residential curbside recycling program. "We have tens of millions of dollars in equipment in this facility," said Thomas Outerbridge, the company's general manager. It'd be a problem if it would start going underwater with every major storm. The city is footing half of the construction costs of the plant, mostly the refurbishment of the pier. Sims estimates that the added flood protections will cost about $550,000. "By elevating the buildings," Mr. Outerbridge said, "there could be two- to three-foot sea level rise, and at least our buildings would be in the same position the pier is in today."