Schumer prods FEMA on LI disaster aid

Sen. Charles Schumer Monday demanded that FEMA speed up its environmental review process because disaster aid already approved for Long Island storms in 2009 and early 2010 is still stuck in the pipeline.

Speaking at Robert Moses State Park's Field 5, where the Dec. 26-27 blizzard carried away more than 100,000 cubic yards of sand placed on the beach last spring, Schumer said the regional office of the Federal Emergency Management Agency last year added an environmental review to the approval process.

"It is impossible for communities to protect their coastlines from storms if FEMA drags out the review process and adds additional hoops . . . to jump through," he said.

But a FEMA official who declined to be named said the policy has not changed in recent years and is followed by all of the agency's regional offices.

Schumer said the process is holding up payment of $35 million in disaster aid already approved by FEMA for different levels of government in Suffolk County going back to a November 2009 storm. The county next week will apply for more aid for the recent blizzard.

Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate asking to set a 90-day deadline for all environmental reviews and releases of money from the time the aid request is filed. The additional reviews are essentially duplicating studies already conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Conservation, he said.

He contended that Fugate could make the change on his own authority. If he does not, "we'll look at legislation, but that will take longer."

SEE PHOTOSSnowstorms that buried LI over the past 100-plus years

FEMA spokesman Donald Caetano said under the current law, "FEMA must evaluate all applications for federal and state reimbursement of recovery projects to ensure they do not pose any threat to the environment or historical landmarks. We'll do everything we can to ensure that these projects can move forward in an environmentally sound but expedient way."

A FEMA official said one reason for the delay in Suffolk aid is that it has not been determined where the sand for replenishment would come from.

If it comes from areas used in the past that have already been subject to environmental review, the FEMA environmental review can move quickly. If not, the project has to go through a full and time-consuming environmental impact study, the official said.