U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) successfully managed to salvage proposed funding for Staten Island’s Bluebelt stormwater drainage system by working to reverse cuts that had originally been included as part of a U.S. House of Representatives $15 billion rescissions package.
The House on June 7 passed the Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act, H.R. 3, which initially would have slashed $107 million to expand the Bluebelt system in Rep. Donovan’s district.
“Although [the funds] are not yet formally ‘obligated,’ which is why they were on the chopping block, these funds are part of a large-scale resiliency plan for Staten Island involving city, state and federal agencies,” the congressman said.
The Bluebelt expansion, he added, “is critical to solving the east shore’s flooding issues, and it’s also a crucial piece of the Army Corps’ design for the seawall.”
“I’m grateful to my colleagues for hearing me out and agreeing to reverse the cuts,” said Rep. Donovan on June 8, who spoke with U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other House leaders last week prior to the House vote, to explain the importance of infrastructure improvements in his district.
“Rep. Donovan has continued to be a staunch advocate for the people of Staten Island” and worked directly with the Trump administration to ensure the so-called rescissions package supports “smart and straightforward budgetary cleaning,” said Rep. McCarthy (R-CA).
“His efforts have been crucial in passage of this historic rescission package and supporting the people of New York’s 11th district,” McCarthy said.
New York City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Vincent Sapienza thanked Rep. Donovan for “ensuring these critical projects like the Bluebelt stormwater management system receive federal funding.” Buildout of the Bluebelt system will help reduce flooding and increase property values, Sapienza said.
Over the past several months, leaders from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget worked with Congress to identify federal accounts that weren’t being used or were otherwise obsolete and then Congress put the accounts into H.R. 3, according to a summary provided by Rep. Donovan’s office.
The legislation originally proposed cutting $107 million in post-Sandy funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Emergency Watershed Program (EWP), which partially funds the Bluebelt expansion, according to the summary.
Several Bluebelt projects using USDA EWP funds have already started, including two Bluebelt sites in Midland Beach, N.Y. The EWP account contains remaining dollars that technically are considered “unobligated,” according to the summary, but USDA issued waivers and has started an approval process to formally allocate those funds to the Bluebelt expansion.
Additionally, the summary noted that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has incorporated a future USDA-funded Bluebelt expansion into its designs for a planned $619 million seawall on Staten Island.
The proposed cuts would have caused delays and funding complications for the seawall project, Rep. Donovan’s staff said.
H.R. 3 passed the House on a 210-206 vote and would rescind approximately $15 billion in budget authority over 2018-2028 for programs across several federal agencies. The Senate received the bill on June 11 and has referred it to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration.