Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2) says he plans to introduce federal legislation that will create a permanent budget line for beach replenishment projects, making them easier to fund.

Van Drew admits that funding such projects is an increasingly challenging effort, since some of his House colleagues see beach replenishment as handouts to the rich.

The congressman made those remarks at a meeting he hosted Aug. 27 with mayors of Shore communities in Cape May, Atlantic and Ocean counties and with officials from the Army Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to discuss beach replenishment.

The backdrop for the meeting was the continuing resolution to fund the federal government through Sept. 30 that was passed by Congress in March, which contained no funding for beach replenishment projects.

Van Drew also spoke at the meeting of the New Jersey Shore Hot Spot Erosion Mitigation Study provision in the Water Resources Development Act of 2024, a provision Van Drew co-sponsored. The initiative requires the Army Corps to identify high erosion areas, what Van Drew called hot spots, and develop solutions tailored to those areas.

These solutions might go beyond replenishment of sand to hard structures such as sea walls and/or jetties, along with living shoreline construction as a means of slowing erosion. He acknowledged that hard structures, if used, must be appropriate to the specific problem or “they can do more harm than good.”

Van Drew used the meeting to correct what he says was misinformation that federal dollars for replenishment had been cut. “That is simply not true,” he said in a statement following the meeting. No funds for beach nourishment projects were included in the continuing resolution, but that was not a budget, he pointed out.

In a typical year Congress allocates between $100 million and $200 million for replenishment projects. Some 2025 projects in Delaware and Maryland were canceled for lack of funding. Projects on the Army Corps’ schedule for 2026 as yet remain unfunded.

Van Drew explained the lack of funding in the continuing resolution as a necessary step to allow the legislation to move swiftly through the Senate on a simple majority.

He also said that money for replenishments is not a standard budget item, but rather a collection of funds from various sources, including earmarks.

What buoyed the spirits of many of the municipal officials at the meeting was Van Drew’s expressing confidence that the funding will be in place for 2026 projects. A budget for the next fiscal year has not yet been approved by Congress.

The mayors left the meeting without a commitment to fund much-needed projects, but many also said they felt better than they did as they entered. According to a statement, Avalon Mayor John McCorristin said, “We are happy to support his [Van Drew’s] goal of long-term sustainability for beach stabilization and new approaches.”

At an Avalon Borough Council meeting the day after Van Drew’s meeting, administrator Scott Wahl, who attended the Van Drew meeting with McCorristin, reminded the public that beaches in Ocean City, Avalon and Stone Harbor are scheduled for winter 2026 replenishments.

The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association maintains a database on beach nourishment projects over the last century. It can be viewed and searched here.

Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.