Upper joins towns lobbying in D.C. for beach replenishment funds
“We’re one storm away from having a catastrophic event,” Upper Township Mayor Curtis Corson said Jan. 12, stressing the need for federal funding for beach replenishment and other methods for shoring up the coast.
Representatives from multiple Cape May County shore towns met with federal officials last week, looking for sand dollars.
The American Coastal Coalition, a federal lobbying group based in Chevy Chase, Md., organized a day of meetings with the New Jersey delegation in Washington, D.C., and at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers headquarters
Mayor Zack Mullock and City Manager Paul Dietrich of Cape May, Corson and Administrator Jimmy Van Zlike and representatives from Avalon and Stone Harbor were asking legislators to make beach funding a priority.
Ocean City has also been looking for beach funding. Mayor Jay Gillian told City Council Jan. 8 the city is still working on federal funding and was harvesting sand for north-end beaches, while guaranteeing all the beaches “would absolutely be ready for summer.”
“I think we are going to have some high-level visitors on the beach in Strathmere,” Van Zlike said last week, referring to the township’s island community, where erosion is cutting off access to the beach and threatening private property.
Corson said it was a productive trip.
“It went well. It was a very busy day, a good day,” he said, noting they had seven meetings with various officials.
He said they learned U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew is drafting legislation to make funding permanent and received verbal commitments of support from Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim.
According to the ACC, the group met with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Director of Civil Works Ryan Fisher and others.
The ACC said in an overview sent to participants that the Army Corps’ budget each year includes a pot of “additional funding” that can be spent at the agency’s discretion.
The goal of the meeting was to review funding levels of both guaranteed and competitive beach funds provided by Congress and ensure the Army Corps prioritizes beaches in this year’s funding.
“It was good to meet with staff of our legislative team and the staff of the Appropriations Committee in both the Senate and Congress,” Dietrich said. “Meeting directly helps put a more human face to the request. They also gave us insights into what we can do to help further our requests for funding.”
He said the experience gave those present a better understanding of the federal budgetary process.
“Moving forward, we need to get a broader consensus for funding for shore protection. Funding for these projects should really be tied to programatic budgetary funding and not have to rely on individual earmarks for specific projects,” Dietrich said.
The group then met with Van Drew and learned he is drafting legislation called the Coastal Storm Risk Management Trust Fund Act, which would establish a dedicated revenue stream for beach nourishment projects.
“Van Drew’s legislation to establish a shore protection trust fund from proceeds from existing oil and gas leases would go a long way in protecting the beaches in Cape May and the rest of South Jersey,” Dietrich said.
Van Drew told them Adam Telle, Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, would be in New Jersey visiting the eroded beaches in the next month to see the situation firsthand.
Representatives also met with Booker’s legislative director, Matt Thomson, who told them the senator would back them by signing onto a joint letter of support and through other traditional means such as earmarks.
Lastly, they met with Marshall Burkhardt, a legislative correspondent for Kim who specializes in Army Corps issues. Burkhardt said Kim would help advance the Coastal Storm Risk Management Trust Fund Act in the Senate once it is introduced in the House.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff