Beach repair caught in red tape
Erosion at Robert Moses and Captree State Parks after storms this past winter. Credit: Jessica Rotkiewicz
Summer is coming soon -- really -- but slowly grinding wheels in the federal bureaucracy seem to be holding up approvals for county and state efforts to put back sand on our storm-damaged beaches.
After a big storm, we've all seen news stories about presidential disaster declarations. We mentally check a box and figure federal dollars will start flowing fast. But the declaration is really just the beginning, with many hoops to follow: environmental impact statements, for example, and approvals of the sites where the sand can safely be taken for use on the beaches.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has paid out $27 million locally for disasters dating back to 2007. But there's $30 million waiting for approvals -- for beaches from the Town of Hempstead out to Suffolk's Smith Point County Park. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy has written to the FEMA regional administrator to complain about what he calls a change in policy that's gumming up the works.
FEMA insists that there's no change, just a clarification of the documentation needed to show that a given beach is eligible for aid. The agency says federal law prevents it from paying out the money until the localities meet all the requirements.
Fine, but the locals and the federal agencies, with a push from Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), need to make sure it gets done very soon -- in time for surf-and-sand season. hN
