RI has now received over $45.4 million in federal Sandy relief and Reed says more help is on the way

PROVIDENCE, RI – Approaching the one year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior & Environment, today announced that Rhode Island will receive an additional $6 million from the U.S. Department of the Interior for restoration projects and to help prepare for future storms.  The funds may be used for a variety of projects, including restoring marshes, wetlands and beaches, rebuilding shorelines, and researching and modeling mitigation of storm surge impacts.

The funds are part of a new $162 million investment the Interior Department is making in 45 restoration and research projects up and down the Atlantic Coast.

Reed noted this funding comes on top of $4.488 million in Interior funding Rhode Island received earlier this year for restoration, repairs, and preservation activities related to the storm damage, bringing the state’s estimated total to nearly $10.5 million to help clean up public lands and wildlife refuge areas.

“I appreciate Secretary Jewell’s commitment to helping Rhode Island recover and improve the resiliency of our coastal areas.  These federal funds will help Rhode Island repair and rebuild areas impacted by Sandy.  Sandy took a heavy economic and environmental toll on our coastline and these funds will help reduce vulnerabilities to future damage,” said Reed, who led the effort to secure this funding as part of the Sandy relief Appropriations bill.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which oversees the National Wildlife Refuge system, will work with a coalition of partners on various restoration projects, including the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), the Coastal Resource Management Council (CRMC), and the Army Corp Engineers.

A network of non-profit groups that assist with environmental monitoring and habitat restoration will also be part of the effort, including: The Nature Conservancy, Narragansett Bay Estuarine Reserve, The Norman Bird Sanctuary, the Wood Pawcatuck Watershed Association, the University of Rhode Island, Save the Bay, the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, and Ducks Unlimited.

Rhode Island is home to five National Wildlife Refuges (Ninigret, Trustom Pond, John H. Chafee at Petaquamscutt Cove, Block Island, and Sachuest Point), which preserve approximately 2,400 acres of woods and waterways along the coast and attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

After the storm, Reed brought top officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Rhode Island to tour storm damage at Sachuest Point, which was battered by Superstorm Sandy, and other wildlife refuge sites that were impacted by the storm.  Hurricane Sandy caused substantial damage to the 1,500 foot access road to the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge.  The refuge, which had been closed since October 30, finally was reopened on May 1 after repairs were completed.

Reed helped include a total of $829.2 million for the U.S. Department of the Interior in the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, which was reduced by $42.5 million to $786.7 million due to automatic, across the board sequestration cuts.  So far, the Department of the Interior has invested over $642 million of that funding in Sandy response and recovery efforts since the storm hit last October.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell has also announced that the Department of the Interior will issue a Request for Proposals on October 29 for the $100 million Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grant Program announced in August.  States, local communities, non-profit organizations and other partners can compete for funding for innovative projects under the program, which is being administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.  Information on the competition can be found at http://www.doi.gov/hurricanesandy.

To date, Reed has helped direct more than $45.4 million in support from federal disaster relief programs to help Rhode Island recover from Sandy, and the Senator expects more help will soon be on the way.

Reed, who serves on the Senate Banking Committee, which oversees federal housing policy, has urged the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to release another tranche of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program funds for storm-related recovery activities, such as repairing homes, businesses, sewage facilities, and public buildings. 

“It’s been a year since the storm hit and while we’ve made real progress, we’ve got to keep at it.  Recovery from the storm is still a priority and more Sandy relief for Rhode Island should be coming down the road,” said Reed.

Overall, the Superstorm Sandy Supplemental Appropriations bill included $60.4 billion in federal aid to help homeowners, business, and communities recover, and resources to rebuild coastal, transportation, and clean water infrastructure.