Res. No. 1389
Resolution calling upon the United States Congress to restore funding to the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ New York-New Jersey Harbor and Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility Study, and the States of New York and New Jersey to advance their shares of the next phase of funding to revive the study until it is fully restored by the Congress.
By Council Members Brannan, Chin, Rosenthal and Rose
Whereas, The New York-New Jersey Harbor and Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility Study (HATS) is a coastal storm risk management study covering the New York (N.Y.) and New Jersey (N.J.) Harbor and tidally affected tributaries encompassing all of New York City, the Hudson River to Troy, N.Y.; the lower Passaic, Hackensack, Rahway, and Raritan Rivers; the Upper and Lower Bays of New York Harbor; the bays of Newark, N.J., Jamaica, Raritan and Sandy Hook; the Kill Van Kull, Arthur Kill and East River tidal straits; and the western Long Island Sound; and
Whereas, HATS, initiated in 2016 and expected to finish in 2022, was one of nine studies that were recommended by the Unites States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) 2015 North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study to manage future potential coastal storm risks facing the region, including those from predicted sea level rise and extreme weather events, by developing possible means of preventing the loss of human lives and damages to property; and
Whereas, The New York and New Jersey Harbor Region was severely impacted from Superstorm Sandy, which destroyed approximately 300 homes and damaged over 69,000 residential units; harmed critical public and private infrastructure; killed 44 City residents and displaced thousands more; and inflicted an estimated $19 billion in damages and lost economic activity across New York City in 2012, according to New York City data; and
Whereas, HATS, if completed, would have proposed a comprehensive plan for managing future potential coastal storm risks facing the New York and New Jersey Harbor Region, including those from predicted sea level rise and extreme weather events, and the study is a necessary precursor to beginning any federally funded harbor-wide resiliency projects; and
Whereas, In February 2020, the Trump Administration abruptly halted HATS by failing to fund USACE’s work plan for the project, leaving it suspended until further notice -a decision that came six weeks after President Donald Trump, via Twitter, ridiculed a seawall proposed by the study; and
Whereas, Funding to HATS must be restored in order to develop plans to allay major future potential damages to New York, caused by coastal storms such as Superstorm Sandy and to protect against rising sea levels and other extreme weather events; and
Whereas, The States of New York and New Jersey are non-federal sponsors of HATS, via the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and should move forward with financing their portions of the project until federal funding is revived; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the United States Congress to restore funding to the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ New York-New Jersey Harbor and Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility Study, and the States of New York and New Jersey to advance their shares of the next phase of funding to revive the study until it is fully restored by the Congress.
LS #14247
4/10/2021 2:45 PM
M.T.