U.S. Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Laura Gillen announced the Coastal Trust Fund Act, which would permanently secure funding from offshore drilling to fund beach repair.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, left, and Adam Telle, assistant secretary for the U.S. Office of the Army speak to reporters about beach erosion during a press conference on the boardwalk in Ocean City , N.J.
on Friday, February 13, 2026.last week, a senior U.S. Army Corps official said the federal government is preparing to provide “tens of millions of dollars” for rapid emergency repairs before summer crowds return.in Ocean City, Upper Township, Avalon and North Wildwood on Feb. 13, with U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd Dist. “We’re going to bring money into the district for beach nourishment, for these emergency areas, for the worst areas of erosion,” Van Drew said in Ocean City, the first stop on a day-long tour with Telle. Telle and Van Drew announced intentions to start an emergency beach repair blitz in the coming months before millions of beachgoers begin visiting for vacations. Telle’s visit comes after officials in several of the towns he toured urged federal and state leaders to replenish their beaches, following fill projects that wereAny emergency work would be reassuring for Ocean City, Upper Township’s Strathmere section and Sea Isle City. Those towns raised concerns that beach‑fill projects planned for early this year might not be funded or completed before summer. Beaches in those towns were last given an Army Corps-backed nourishment in early 2024. on Friday, February 13, 2026.The proposal calls for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prioritize beaches in Cape May County that were damaged the worst by coastal storms. Sand loss accelerated last August during Hurricane Erin, which caused strong waves that carved out gaps at the shore. In October, two more storms, including a nor’easter, worsened the erosion. “We’re optimistic that we can have the resources made available within a matter of a month or two, and the actual work and mobilization begins shortly thereafter,” Telle said.Officials in Upper Township, Ocean City and Cape May have recently declared local states of emergency over their battered coastline, suggesting that New Jersey seek money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for short-term solutions. Van Drew said he believes the shore can be repaired without the Sherrill administration requesting funding from FEMA. The governor’s office was reached for comment but did not immediately provide a statement on the announcement. Upper Township’s Strathmere section, an oceanfront neighborhood, endured ample sand and dune damage in the past months, prompting local officials to lobby for funding in Washington. Workers assess beach and dune erosion in Strathmere, Upper Township, New Jersey, on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, after a second powerful storm in about two weeks battered the coastal community.Township Mayor Curtis Corson, who has been one of the loudest voices for beach replenishment at the Jersey Shore, said his meeting with Telle and Van Drew on Wednesday was “positive.” “I do think he understood where I was coming from, and I was very receptive,” Corson said in a phone call with NJ.com. Separately on Wednesday, Van Drew and U.S. Rep. Laura Gillen announced a plan to permanently secure beach repair funding through the Coastal Trust Fund Act, which would designate $1 billion annually in the federal budget. Under the legislation, the fund would draw primarily from federal revenue generated by offshore drilling. The federal government collects revenue from leases it awards to energy companies to drill mostly in the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump has renamed the Gulf of America. As of April 2025, the latest data, the U.S. has 2,227 leases, spanning 12.1 million acres, for energy companies’ use of its oceans, according to the Bureau of Ocean Management., Van Drew said the legislation would not require tax increases, citing analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. Providing money for the fund would not hinge on any new offshore drilling expansion by the Trump administration, Van Drew said.Eric Conklin is an award-winning journalist who joined NJ Advance Media in 2023 from The Press of Atlantic City. He began his journalism career as a college student freelancing for Shore Local News Magazine in...
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