[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 117 (Tuesday, September 17, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1593-E1594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          FIRE ISLAND AND THE WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. STEVE ISRAEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 17, 2002

  Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, as the House begins the process of 
reauthorizing the Water Resources Development Act, I wanted to inform 
my colleagues of correspondence between myself, the gentleman from New 
York, Mr. Grucci, and the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for 
Civil Works, Les Brownlee.
  Mr. Grucci and I wrote to the Assistant Secretary in June to note the 
fact that, in our opinion, the Army Corps of Engineers has not suitably 
complied with Section 342 of the Water Resources Development Act of 
1999. I ask that our letter of June 19, 2002 be printed in the Record 
at this point.
  Today my office received a reply from the Assistant Secretary, which 
I now ask be printed in the Record. In his reply, the Assistant 
Secretary noted that the Army Corps ``deferred all investigations on 
the Fire Island Interim project in July 2001'' due to the State's 
desire to focus on the Fire Island Reformulation project, which is 
slated to end in November 2005.
  I bring these letters to the attention of my colleagues to help them 
in their deliberations on the Water Resources Development Act.

                                Congress of the United States,

                                    Washington, DC, June 19, 2002.
     Hon. Craig Manson,
     Assistant Secretary for Fish & Wildlife and Parks, U.S. 
         Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Les Brownlee,
     Under Secretary of the Army and Acting Assistant Secretary 
         for Civil Works, U.S. Department of the Army, Washington, 
         DC.
       Dear Assistant Secretary Manson and Under Secretary 
     Brownlee: In 1999, the Congress passed, and the President 
     signed, the Water Resources Development Act of 1999. Within 
     that legislation was a Section of particular concern to us as 
     Representatives of the South Shore of Suffolk County, New 
     York. Section 342 of that law concerns the Fire Island 
     Interim Project (FIIP), a routine beach nourishment project 
     made necessary by the severe northeast storms of 1991-96. 
     Those storms gravely weakened the barrier island, which 
     protects the communities of the South Shore.
       In an effort to resolve differences between the Army Corps 
     of Engineers, the Fish & Wildlife Service and the National 
     Park Service, the statute required your agencies to 
     ``complete all procedures and reviews expeditiously and to 
     adopt and submit to Congress, not later than 120 days after 
     the date of enactment . . . a mutually acceptable shore 
     erosion plan for the Fire Island to Moriches Inlet reach of 
     the project.'' Almost three years have passed, but Congress 
     has yet to receive such a plan. This continued inaction 
     raises serious concerns as to why your agencies could not 
     agree on a plan that would allow this beach preservation 
     effort to go forward.
       As you may know, the FIIP is an interim segment of a storm 
     damage reduction and hurricane protection plan authorized by 
     Congress more than 40 years ago. It arose in response to a 
     request by New York State for Corps recommendations in the 
     wake of the storms of the early 1990s. The Corps recommended, 
     and then-Governor Cuomo's Coastal Erosion Task Force 
     endorsed, a project that would serve as a bridge to a final 
     ``refommulated'' plan for protecting Long Island's South 
     Shore. Unfortunately, this important project has been 
     constantly delayed.
       This project is fully justified economically on the basis 
     of reduction of storm damage to properties, both on the 
     barrier island and in low-lying areas of the mainland. It is 
     also of vital importance to the region's tourist economy and 
     to the continued health of wildlife habitat, including that 
     of certain endangered species, on the barrier. We are also 
     concerned by the fact that despite a clear legal mandate, 
     your agencies have not given Congress a ``mutually acceptable 
     shore erosion plan for the Fire Island to Moriches Inlet 
     reach of the project.''
       Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look 
     forward to hearing a response from your agencies as soon as 
     possible and we hope to work with you in the future to 
     resolve this issue.
           Sincerely,
     Felix J. Grucci, Jr.,
     Steve Israel,
       Members of Congress.
                                 ______
                                 
         Department of the Army, Office of the Assistant 
           Secretary, Civil Works
     Washington DC, September 17, 2002.
     Hon. Steven J. Israel,
     U.S. House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Israel: Thank you for your letter of June 
     19, 2002, co-signed by Congressman Felix J. Grucci, Jr. 
     concerning the Fire Island Interim project and the 
     Congressional directive contained in Section 342 of the Water 
     Resources Development Act of 1999.
       In accordance with the 1999 Partnership Agreement between 
     the Departments of Army and Interior, the New York District 
     prepared a draft decision document for the Fire Island 
     Interim project. This project was a short-term project to 
     reduce the potential for storm damages along the south shore 
     of Long Island until completion and implementation of a more 
     comprehensive plan, which could result from the ongoing 
     reformulation study for Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point. 
     In a letter dated December 17, 1999, Dr. Joseph Westphal 
     wrote to the Speaker of the House concerning our progress, 
     specifically noting the draft decision document and draft 
     Environmental Impact Statement, and our hope that a mutually 
     acceptable solution would emerge as a result of the public 
     and agency review.
       During 2000, the New York District received many comments 
     on the proposed Fire Island Interim project. The Department 
     of Interior and the State of New York shared many concerns. 
     Based on these concerns, the time that had passed to reach 
     agreement on an interim project, and the time remaining to 
     complete the reformulation study, the state decided not to 
     support the proposed interim project. Instead, the State 
     wished to focus on completing the reformulation study. 
     Therefore, the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) deferred all 
     investigations on the Fire Island Interim project in July 
     2001.
       The Corps has currently scheduled completion of the 
     reformulation study in November

[[Page E1594]]

     2005. All of the cooperating agencies are working towards 
     developing a comprehensive plan, which would address various 
     concerns noted during the evaluation of the interim project. 
     Upon completion and analysis of the reformulation study, 
     there may be an opportunity to construct initial, or 
     separable increments of the overall project. If the 
     particular concern at that time is construction along the 
     Fire Island barrier island, then we will put our efforts 
     towards achieving that goal.
       Thank you for your interest in the Civil Works program. I 
     hope that this letter addresses your concerns. Please do not 
     hesitate to contact me if you need any additional 
     information.
           Sincerely,

                                                  L. Brownlee,

                                        Acting Assistant Secretary
                                        of the Army (Civil Works).

     

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