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From NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi.

Good evening and welcome to a special Labor Day edition of NJ Spotlight News.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

Well, today marks the unofficial end of summer, but for communities up and down the Jersey shore, the peak of hurricane season is just arriving.

Last month, Hurricane Erin grabbed the Garden State's attention, threatening damaging winds, dangerous waves, and coastal flooding, even though the storm never made landfall.

Herons damage is still being assessed, but it served as a reminder to shore towns of the ocean's power.

Climate change is fueling more intense tropical storms, and sea level rise is making it easier for storm surge to rush farther ashore when a hurricane blows through.

And even if a coastal storm doesn't damage homes, businesses, or infrastructure, it can eat huge chunks out of the beaches that anchor the shore's multi-billion dollar tourism industry.

Tens of millions of dollars are spent each year nourishing New Jersey's beaches, but since President Donald Trump has returned to office, federal funding for that work has been shut off.

Tonight, we'll talk to folks dealing with the delicate balance of climate change, tourism, and beach protection.

First up Monmouth Beach Mayor Tim Somers and Jane Bokunewicz, the faculty director of the Lloyd D. Levinson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at Stockton University.

Well first of all thank you both for taking the time to talk about this.

Mayor, Monmouth Beach has long been a hot spot for erosion.

You just recently went through a replenishment project, but then Hurricane Erin, although it didn't make landfall here, wiped out a lot of that work.

You've said you lost about 50 percent of the sand there.

I know you're asking federal lawmakers to step up.

What exactly are you seeking?

Well you know that as we've discussed I'm sure most most folks locally are aware you know that the Jersey Shore is a dynamic place and these beach replenishments projects sometimes can last you know years and other times very very short time so you know Erin although did not you know land on our shores it made a dramatic change to our beach over a period of about 72 hours.

We lost about 50% of the total height and width of our beach.

And we didn't have an immense beach to begin with so that has made a big change in some places the ocean actually came up to the seawall that is our last line of defense and started to erode at that as well.

So that also makes a bigger impact and a quicker impact on the erosion and that took away a lot of sand from behind a couple of the high rises that rest on our shore.

So we are seeking help from the federal government for stuff like this.

We always do.

It's a split of course.

The government pays 65%, the state pays 26%, and we pay 9%.

Our last beach replenishment project cost $12 million total, of which we at the borough paid $1.2 million.

So it's a big expense for us as citizens, but we feel it's important to do that and we're willing to do that with our federal and state partners.

So we are worried, like most folks here in New Jersey, that the funding has been stripped by, it appears to be, at least two-thirds of the total funding that was earmarked this year.

I think it was in the vicinity of $200 million, and it has now been stripped down to $60 million.

So we're hopeful in the coming few weeks that this can be put back in, in response to what's just happened with Erin.

And I think this has been an eye opening experience, not only for us, but hopefully for the legislators that are looking from the outside in and can see now why we ask for this funding.

And, you know, we only have to go back to Sandy to see what can happen if we don't have a beach.

If that funding doesn't materialize, what will it mean for a town like yours, other shore towns, to not get the support that you need?

Well, I mean obviously it would be impossible for the residents of Monmouth Beach to shoulder the load and deposit the sand necessary on our beach.

This is why we work together with the federal and state partners to get this done.

And this is not a new thing.

This has been going on in the Jersey Shore since you know the early part of the 1900s in a larger sense now in modern times.

But you know we're all aware that this is a problem and the protection and I say protection because that's what this is.

Although all of us enjoy the beach as a recreational function it is indeed here for our protection for the life and property of the people that live near the shore.

We all enjoy it.

We all benefit from it financially of course but at the end of the day without this it would cause or could cause massive destruction along the Jersey Shore and particularly places like here in Monmouth Beach.

Professor Bokunewicz, it buys time right these replenishment projects but it is expensive.

But how important is it when you stack up all of the items that drive the engine of New Jersey's economy.

How important is the shore when you put all of those pieces together?

Well, tourism in New Jersey, of course, is very important.

And the beaches are one of the reasons, one of the most important reasons why people travel to New Jersey.

In many studies that were done in various academic institutions, beaches come out as either number one or two of the reason why people choose a tourism destination.

And in New Jersey, the economic impact of tourism is measured in billions, not millions.

So, it really is worth it to keep investing in the beaches and preserve this beautiful asset that we have that attracts visitors to the state.

As sea levels rise though and as storms intensify, are towns, professor, or should towns be rethinking how they market themselves or what they have to offer beyond the beaches?

Well many New Jersey towns especially Atlantic City have amenities other than the beaches but you can really see a spike in tourism during the summer season.

In Atlantic City visitation as we we measure it through the number of cars going through the toll plaza increases by 50%.

Casino revenue increases by about 30%.

So the beaches although there are other amenities that do provide economic impact to the state the beaches really help to magnify that impact especially in the summer season.

Mayor, you know long term solutions are something that we talk about quite a bit but they are also costly and it takes a lot of buy-in.

Are things like living shorelines even offshore breakers you know dune restoration are those types of ideas getting traction in places like Monmouth Beach or when you talk to your counterparts in in nearby towns are those some of the other solutions that you're looking to?

Well yes I would leave the expert and answer to that to the Army Corps of Engineers but I can tell you that you know in the last few years when we had our last beach replenishment I had the opportunity to walk much of our shoreline with the new Army Corps of Engineers commander as well as Congressman Frank Pallone and some local people in town that you know were involved in our beach replenishment and those things were discussed and they realize I know I speak for Monmouth Beach because that's our place and I know it very well.

They realize there are hot spots and Monmouth Beach is one of them and I think they're considering some other ways that they might be able to help the sand stay in place that would you know enhance it to last longer but at the end of the day it this aside from the protection which is the number one thing that this gives us this is an economic driver an engine for this state it brings in you know as the professor said it brings in tens of billions of dollars to our economy which goes to taxes both state federal and it also brings in an immense amount of employment to the state to the tune of a half a million folks a year that work here at the Jersey Shore so this is a local issue to us and it's near and dear to our heart but it really is an economic driver in this state that we cannot do without.

So I encourage all of our citizens in the state now in these next few weeks please reach out to your representatives, your congressmen, your senators.

Please let them know you are supporting this.

Send letters.

We are doing a local letter drive here in Monmouth Beach currently and trying to get our folks to send these letters.

I will personally deliver them if I have to.

This is a vitally important time for us to step up and let folks know that this is important.

The Mayor is making the case there, Professor, but when folks question the expense, how do you stack up the shore compared to everything else that New Jersey brings in in terms of tourism, revenue, attracting visitors, things of that nature?

I mean, can you give us a sense of just how important it is?

Well, as we said before, it's measured in billions of dollars, whereas the beach replenishment projects might be measured in millions of dollars.

So it really is a good return on investment to keep investing in the beaches.

And it's not just the shore, the houses along the shore that benefit from the replenishment projects.

Think of everyone who depends on the beach revenue.

The small ice cream from anyone from the small ice cream vendor to the luxury resort hotels on the beach.

So there are so many people dependent on the beaches for their economic stability.

So it really is important to the state.

Let me ask you about things like the Climate Superfund Act, which folks have talked about as maybe not being the answer, but part of an answer for paying for some of these projects.

Where do you stand on that?

Listen, as an official for the Borough of Monmouth Beach and a resident, a lifelong resident, we are obligated to look at and investigate and support anything that would make sure that we're safe here at the shore and that the infrastructure here at the shore is protected.

There is no alternative to that.

And so, you know, we're all aware.

You can see it.

Things have changed.

Storms are coming faster.

Storms are larger.

Storms are more dramatic, and they're stronger.

And, you know, whether this is where we're going to be for the future and it's going to be more -- you know, there are going to be more storms, we all don't know that.

But we can see what's happening now.

And it's our obligation to make sure that we keep folks safe and investigate any means that we can make our seashore more robust, more resilient to prepare us for what's coming.

Bottom line, Professor, do you think the future of shore tourism relies on adaptation, resilience, not just recovery mode?

Of course, I'm not an expert, as the mayor said, but anything that can be done to more sustainably enforce the beaches would be a better long-term solution.

But until that's available, we have to depend on the replenishment, which is the reactionary mode.

But it's still important and it's still economically viable.

There's still a return on investment, even though it's very costly.

All right.

Monmouth Beach Mayor Tim Somers, Stockton University Professor Jane Bokunewicz, thank you both so much for your insight and perspective.

Thank you.

For decades, keeping the sand on the beach and protecting Jersey Shore tourism dollars has been top priority for state leaders.

That work has ramped up even more in the years since Superstorm Sandy, as response to that disaster included fortifying dunes and beaches along Jersey's entire Atlantic coast.

But the job of protecting coastal communities has only become harder as sea levels rise, and new cuts to federal funding are putting state authorities in a new bind.

Joining me now to discuss it all is Shawn LaTourette, the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Commissioner, thanks for sitting down with me.

So as we sit here, Hurricane Erin just recently battered parts of the Jersey Shore.

What can you tell us about what the commission has seen as far as damage goes?

Sure.

So the Department of Environmental Protection has what's called the Office of Coastal Engineering.

And so we get on the ground before and after storms to do erosional assessments.

The truth is that the storm could have been worse, but it also could have been better for parts of the state, particularly south of the Barnegat Bay.

So south of LBI, more or less.

We've seen significant wave run up and moderate dune scarping and some beach loss in a few key areas.

Some correspond to our very typical erosional hot spots.

Places like the Wildwoods, which we know has struggled to get a beach and dune project in place.

Places like Atlantic City, there are several spots with some significant beach loss there.

We've also seen erosional impacts a little further north, though they're less severe, and in Cape May there's been some moderate impacts as well, but largely in that part of the state.

Ocean City as well.

What I find really a bit concerning is the wave runoff that went as far up under boardwalks in places like Wildwood, where we know the beach is so very long.

So that's a pretty significant amount of runoff.

But thankfully, we avoided the worst of the worst.

And we're grateful for that.

I know that you all are compiling a final report about the damage assessment.

But are these areas some of the towns that you just ticked off in urgent need of state and federal dollars?

And are they there?

I don't think that folks are in urgent need from the perspective of there's a public safety hazard that can't be navigated over the balance of the summer.

There are some cross crossovers that have been impacted, either sand buildup or washout.

But we're not seeing the undermining of infrastructure, for example.

And so I think what we'll see is an approach to how we even things out on a community by community basis.

And part of that has to do with the fact that we're kind of out of step with the nourishment cycle at this point.

And I think this storm kind of demonstrates the fallibility of our really significant reliance on that cycle, which depends on the federal partnership to bring in the dollars.

Which we are going to get to.

You teed me up well, but I just am curious how it compares to other recent storms and the coastal erosion.

Is there a way an apples to apples comparison that you can make for us?

I think that I would put it somewhat akin to a significant winter nor'easter that we see really affecting shorelines more from a wind than a flooding perspective.

OK. With respect to the nature and extent of the dunes, the dune scarping.

Now, the flooding conditions were more serious.

There were some folks who needed to be rescued.

Margate, Egg Harbor had some really significant impacts from the higher tide event.

This had to-- so happened to correspond with the new moon.

So it was a dangerous flood event in some parts as well.

You brought up, which is really at the heart of this, the beach replenishment, the nourishment projects.

The Army Corps of Engineers handles the bulk of that for New Jersey, but right now there is zero federal funding that's been locked in for next year.

How big of a concern is that for the DEP?

It's a dire concern.

And I say that not to be hyperbolic, but because I think this is not a well understood dynamic by and large.

The way that we go about protecting our Atlantic coastline in New Jersey, which by the way is one of the best protected in the entire country because of the strength and longevity of the state federal relationship.

The federal government works hand in hand with us to design engineered beach and dune projects up and down the coast, right, all the way from Monmouth County down to Cape May.

And then the federal government carries between 65 to 75 percent of that cost and the state carries the rest with our shore protection fund which gets anywhere between 25 to 50 million dollars a year.

Governor Murphy has been very intent on bringing it to the 50 million dollar level in each of his recent budgets but that hasn't always been the case.

But importantly the Beach and Dune projects are so expensive that we couldn't possibly do them on our own.

I'll give you one example.

We finished a couple months ago Northern Ocean County over a 60 million dollar project right.

75% covered by the federal government and I just mentioned that we get a max lately of 50 million dollars per year.

We spread that around all the projects up and down the coast.

So is there a way to fill this gap without that federal money?

There's not a way to fill the gap because the state funding is oriented to effectively chase the federal funding.

We don't do too many solo projects because it is more beneficial to the taxpayer, to the residents, to the communities for us to pursue this paradigm.

And so we're leaning hard on our delegation to make sure that we're seeing these appropriations happen at the federal level.

In the most recent version of the draft funding bill before the House of Representatives, the projects weren't in there.

And we know that the Corps and the D.P.

have capacities to do Northern Ocean City, Stone Harbor, Avalon, heading on down toward Cape May.

But the federal funds haven't been identified yet in either the president's proposed budget or in the House markup.

>> At any point or maybe we're at that point, does the DEP say, hey, these are just coastal areas that we can no longer protect.

We're chasing something that can't be anymore.

Are we at that point?

>> I sure hope that we're not.

Because, again, we've had this relationship for decades.

There's no state in the country that does as much of these types of projects as we do with the Corps of Engineers.

And the projects always meet the federal cost benefit ratio because the value of these assets that we have situated along the coast are so significant.

It would be punishing to our state economy and, by extension, to our economy.

And so I think we need to be more inclusive in our efforts to get these projects done.

And I think that's what we're going to do.

And I think that's what we're going to do.

>> Thank you.

to the federal economy for us to lose that value.

- So if we brought in something like the Climate Superfund Act, there was a rally recently in Atlantic City from folks who were affected by this most recent hurricane, pushing lawmakers to enact this.

Is that a viable method?

- I think it is a tool.

I don't think something like that is alone enough to help answer for the state's overall climate resilience needs.

It's just one mechanism.

So I think one of the things to recognize about the Climate Superfund is that part of the argument is based upon the amount of federally declared disaster relief that New Jersey has received.

We've had 13 federally declared disasters in the last 11 years.

It cost upwards of $7 or $8 billion of funding coming from the federal government.

That's not including the engineered beach and dune projects that we've just talked about.

So it wouldn't be enough, but we do need a state solution of that kind.

So let me ask you then, you are tasked, your commission is tasked with finalizing what are known as the real rules, zoning rules for building in coastal areas and other flood prone areas inland as well, before Governor Murphy leaves office.

Where do we stand with that?

And are they manageable, equitable, this revised version that we're at at this point?

- I believe that they're manageable, they're equitable, but most importantly, they're necessary.

We're sitting here today talking about the recovery from a hurricane that was over 200 miles off our coast, that one that hit us.

We're seeing consistent flooding in our coastal communities and our inland communities.

And we have to work harder today to build the things that will stand the test of time.

What about this provision?

And I know you've heard pushback about this, allowing for the affordable housing with safeguards in areas that could be flood prone.

I mean, how does that speak equity?

It's a great question.

I think it's a bit misunderstood.

The flood hazard area control act regulations that the DEP administers have always had a provision for hardship where if a project is in the public interest and the project for some technical reason could not meet the presumptive standards that are set in the rules, there's a pathway for a project in the public interest to demonstrate that they have an alternative modality for securing public safety and demonstrating that to the department.

It's not an opportunity to place our most vulnerable residents, those in need of housing for low and moderate income families, it's not an opportunity to place them in harm's way, but it ensures that we can do two things at the same time, and we can.

And one of the things that has troubled me, quite honestly, is this dynamic I face in this work a lot, which is a suggestion that there are only two potential pathways to achieve something, whether that's climate action or flood control, and that's always in tension with something that pertains to our economic development.

And the proposition is that they're necessarily in tension, but that's not true.

Protecting our assets enriches our economy, and of course, keeping our people safe enriches us all.

It's a conversation that we know will be ongoing.

DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, thank you so much for coming in.

That's going to do it for us tonight.

But a reminder, you can download our podcast wherever you listen and watch us anytime by subscribing to the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

And if you want to help support the programming public media brings you and keep stations like this one thriving, head to njspotlightnews.org/donate.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

For the entire team at NJ Spotlight News, thanks for being with us.

Enjoy this Labor Day.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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