Van Drew looks to give beach projects a permanent source of funding

In the aftermath of Hurricane Erin’s punishing blow to the Jersey Shore, Congressman Jeff Van Drew is planning to introduce legislation to provide “permanent and reliable” federal funding for beach replenishment projects across the country.

Van Drew, a Republican whose 2nd Congressional District includes the shore towns in Atlantic and Cape May counties and part of Ocean County, met privately Tuesday with local mayors to discuss immediate and long-term solutions to protect New Jersey’s beaches.

“In the long term, I will be introducing legislation to make sure there is permanent and reliable funding for beach projects all across the country. This will give our towns the stability they deserve and help keep costs down,” Van Drew announced Wednesday.

Van Drew said he also plans to work with local, state and federal officials on permanent construction projects – including jetties, seawalls and bulkheads – to keep the sand in place after beach replenishment projects are completed.

“I will also be meeting with the dredging industry to push for lower costs for projects, and we are moving forward with my Hot Spot Erosion Mitigation Law, which is already being piloted in Atlantic City to keep sand on the beaches while saving money for our communities,” he said.

Although the center of the storm was hundreds of miles offshore, Hurricane Erin’s big waves and tropical storm-force winds lashed the South Jersey coast last week, causing major beach erosion in some communities.

“We’ve got to make sure that areas like North Wildwood, Ocean City at the north end and Strathmere get some help. Those areas have got some real deep, big bad issues that we need to take care of, so we’ve got to really look at that as well to see if we can get to them sooner or later,” Van Drew said in an interview after meeting with the mayors.

    Congressman Jeff Van Drew, right, meets with local mayors to discuss beach replenishment funding and shore protection measures. (Photo courtesy of Congressman Jeff Van Drew's office)
  

Upper Township Mayor Curtis Corson, who was part of the meeting, estimated that the Strathmere beaches in his community lost 50 percent to 60 percent of the sand from a beach replenishment project done in 2023 and 2024.

“We could use it now,” Corson said of Strathmere’s need for new sand for its depleted beaches and dunes.

Corson said Strathmere was forced to close down 12 of its 31 beach pathways because of serious erosion caused by Hurricane Erin. The pounding waves also washed away part of Strathmere’s protective dunes, causing cliff-like drop-offs about 8 or 10 feet high, Corson said.

Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian said he will continue to work with Van Drew, as well as state officials and Gov. Phil Murphy, to make sure funding is put in place for vital beach restoration projects.

Gillian was thankful that Ocean City’s dune system did such a good job of protecting the community during the storm. Ocean City is in line for its next beach replenishment project in early 2026.

“We’re going to push for it. I’m still optimistic that we’ll get it,” Gillian said of beach replenishment funding in an interview after the meeting with Van Drew.

The hurricane caused the highest floodwaters Sea Isle City had experienced since 2018, Mayor Leonard Desiderio said. Sea Isle, though, avoided serious beach erosion.

“The good thing is there were no injuries, and the city was relatively unharmed by the storm. In addition, our beaches fared very well, as we experienced minimal erosion,” Desiderio said.

Desiderio, who also serves as director of the Cape May County Board of Commissioners, was among the mayors who met with Van Drew and thanked him for helping them to protect the coast from erosion.

“Together, we are all committed to working as one shore community to protect our coast, making sure that no town is left behind,” Desiderio said.

    Although some shore towns suffered severe erosion during Hurricane Erin, Sea Isle City's beaches had only minimal damage, Mayor Leonard Desiderio said.
  

Van Drew’s meeting included mayors from Atlantic, Cape May and Ocean counties. Also attending the meeting were representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

It was prompted by not only the damage caused by Hurricane Erin, but also by concerns that federal funding for beach replenishment projects had been pulled for 2025. Van Drew said reports of funding cuts for beach replenishment projects were false.

“Some people have been told that federal dollars for beach replenishment were taken back or canceled, and that is simply not true,” he said. “We have delivered record levels of funding for our shore, and I expect that success to continue.”

According to figures supplied by Van Drew’s office, in the past five years New Jersey has received a total of $314.1 million in federal funding for beach replenishment, second only to Florida. Money from the state of New Jersey brought total federal and state funding for beach replenishment projects in the last five years to nearly $500 million.

Van Drew acknowledged that there are both Democrats and Republicans in Congress who question the wisdom of approving federal funding for beach replenishment projects when so much sand is lost during storms.

“Yes, there are members who are not supportive. I don’t believe it’s the majority. No. 1, I’ve got to convince them the nice way, and if that doesn’t work, you’ve got to play hard ball, because there’s always other members who need you to do things for them,” he said of the back-and-forth negotiations in Congress for federal funding.

Van Drew noted that he will work with fellow New Jersey Republican Congressman Chris Smith, who represents shore towns in Ocean and Monmouth counties, on a federal funding package for beach replenishment projects.

Van Drew predicted that Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone, who represents Middlesex County and some of the shore towns in Monmouth County, will become a co-sponsor of the funding.

    Congressman Jeff Van Drew is planning to introduce legislation to provide permanent and reliable federal funding for beach replenishment projects.
  

Pallone has been critical of congressional Republicans, accusing them of trying to slash federal funding for beach replenishment projects in a partisan appropriations bill.

In July, Pallone issued a statement saying that Congress typically appropriates $200 million each year for beach replenishment projects, but the Republicans were looking to approve just $60 million in replenishment projects in 2026.

However, Van Drew disputed that any federal funding has been lost for beach replenishment projects.

“Not a penny of it, not one bucket of sand, not one dollar had anything to do with beach replenishment,” he said in the interview.