Law change makes it easier for Long Island to qualify for federal storm aid
Recently passed legislation will make it easier for Long Island to qualify for federal aid to repair shorelines on Fire Island and the South Shore after damage caused by nor’easters.
The bipartisan-endorsed federal law, passed every two years since 2014, authorizes the Army Corps of Engineers to work on projects to improve water-related infrastructure across the country. In recent years, Long Island — especially Fire Island — has suffered increasingly damaging storms that have caused erosion, yet it has struggled to qualify for emergency federal assistance under the Water Resources Development Act.
The new version of the law includes new language that will lower the federal aid threshold for coastal renourishment on Long Island in the wake of those storms.
Previously, the bar for aid was an “extraordinary storm event, such as a Category 3 hurricane,” said officials from Rep. Andrew Garbarino’s office. “In short, it makes it easier to qualify for federal funded aid following storms that impact Fire Island.”
The barrier island already qualified for erosion replenishment every few years. But Fire Island in particular has suffered extensive damage requiring emergency repairs from the Army Corps in recent years, after a series of devastating storms that washed away dunes and coastline beaches.
As a barrier island off the coast of Long Island, Fire Island is “very important for the protection of the South Shore,” said Garbarino (R-Bayport), who advocated to lower the threshold for federal aid to Long Island municipalities.
The Army Corps will also conduct townwide feasibility studies on the South Shore ahead of later project authorizations under the act.
“We saw what happened with Superstorm Sandy,” Garbarino said, referencing the 2012 post-tropical cyclone that devastated Long Island. “There was that breach [on Fire Island] and you had that flooding all over the place. There is a lot of property, a lot of homes, that would be destroyed if something was ever to permanently take out Fire Island.”
“So making sure that the beach remains there, and when there are nor’easters that damage the dunes, that they get renourished and restored right away,” is important, he added.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) highlighted the “huge benefits” the newly passed water infrastructure package contains for Long Island.
“Just last year, I called on the Army Corps” to activate a provision “to repair Fire Island beaches after major storms crippled the coastline — and that $52 million project is happening right now,” he said in a statement. “This is the type of all-important work that this package will facilitate in the future for Long Island.”
Suzy Goldhirsch, president of the Fire Island Association, said the change “makes the criteria more relevant to the types of storms and weather that we’re getting now.”
Like Garbarino, she pointed to the role that Fire Island plays as a barrier island protecting Long Island’s southern coast from erosion and flooding.
“We have to think about how to protect the barrier island while we deal with climate change,” she said.
Recently passed legislation will make it easier for Long Island to qualify for federal aid to repair shorelines on Fire Island and the South Shore after damage caused by nor’easters.
The bipartisan-endorsed federal law, passed every two years since 2014, authorizes the Army Corps of Engineers to work on projects to improve water-related infrastructure across the country. In recent years, Long Island — especially Fire Island — has suffered increasingly damaging storms that have caused erosion, yet it has struggled to qualify for emergency federal assistance under the Water Resources Development Act.
The new version of the law includes new language that will lower the federal aid threshold for coastal renourishment on Long Island in the wake of those storms.
Previously, the bar for aid was an “extraordinary storm event, such as a Category 3 hurricane,” said officials from Rep. Andrew Garbarino’s office. “In short, it makes it easier to qualify for federal funded aid following storms that impact Fire Island.”
The barrier island already qualified for erosion replenishment every few years. But Fire Island in particular has suffered extensive damage requiring emergency repairs from the Army Corps in recent years, after a series of devastating storms that washed away dunes and coastline beaches.
As a barrier island off the coast of Long Island, Fire Island is “very important for the protection of the South Shore,” said Garbarino (R-Bayport), who advocated to lower the threshold for federal aid to Long Island municipalities.
The Army Corps will also conduct townwide feasibility studies on the South Shore ahead of later project authorizations under the act.
“We saw what happened with Superstorm Sandy,” Garbarino said, referencing the 2012 post-tropical cyclone that devastated Long Island. “There was that breach [on Fire Island] and you had that flooding all over the place. There is a lot of property, a lot of homes, that would be destroyed if something was ever to permanently take out Fire Island.”
“So making sure that the beach remains there, and when there are nor’easters that damage the dunes, that they get renourished and restored right away,” is important, he added.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) highlighted the “huge benefits” the newly passed water infrastructure package contains for Long Island.
“Just last year, I called on the Army Corps” to activate a provision “to repair Fire Island beaches after major storms crippled the coastline — and that $52 million project is happening right now,” he said in a statement. “This is the type of all-important work that this package will facilitate in the future for Long Island.”
Suzy Goldhirsch, president of the Fire Island Association, said the change “makes the criteria more relevant to the types of storms and weather that we’re getting now.”
Like Garbarino, she pointed to the role that Fire Island plays as a barrier island protecting Long Island’s southern coast from erosion and flooding.
“We have to think about how to protect the barrier island while we deal with climate change,” she said.
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