Commissioners support county fighting NJ PACT
CAPE MAY POINT − Last year was the first since 1996 in which federal funds for beach replenishment were not allocated to New Jersey shore towns.
The need for reliable, long-term funding for coastal protection has been an ongoing battle for coastal areas. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd) and U.S. Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY) introduced a bipartisan Coastal Trust Fund Act in February to create a funding source for coastal projects nationwide.
“My bipartisan Coastal Trust Fund Act sets up a permanent and reliable funding stream for coastal storm risk management projects like beach nourishment,” Van Drew said in a statement. “This is a big deal, not just for New Jersey, but for the whole country.
Van Drew’s legislation invests $1 billion per year into the Army Corps of Engineers’ coastal storm management projects.
“By funding the Coastal Trust Fund with existing offshore energy lease revenues, we earned a budget-neutral score from the Congressional Budget Office, meaning no new taxes or fees on anybody,” Van Drew said.
“This bill was developed through months of collaboration with the top coastal experts in the country, and it is one of the most serious efforts in history to protect the coastlines of the United States.”
Cape May Point Deputy Mayor Elise Geiger said March 24 the Coastal Trust Fund Act was a good step in the right direction for coastal replenishment.
“When I met with the [New Jersey] Coastal Coalition last summer, they kept indicating the need for a permanent source of funding,” Geiger said, adding that the resolution on the agenda, in support of the act, was reworded to “add more for the Cape May flavor.”
In July 2025, Mayor Anita VanHeeswyk said it was the Point’s year for replenishment, but the amount of sand was only slightly down and filled to the original template.
PACT/REAL regulations
Geiger also discussed the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Protecting Against Climate Threats/Resilient Environments and Landscape (PACT/REAL) rules. The DEP adopted the rules Jan. 20, the final day in office for former Gov. Phil Murphy.
They significantly change various rules and regulations in response to climate change, including drastically increasing the size of the Flood Hazard Area through the creation of a new Climate Adjusted Flood Elevation standard, in addition to changes to state stormwater management, wetlands conservation and coastal area protection.
Additionally, the regulations from the DEP raise base flood elevation for new construction and extensive reconstruction to 4 feet in coastal areas, expand flood hazard zones and include numerous other changes.
“People think it’s a law that went through the Legislature, [but] it didn’t,” Geiger said. “Although everybody says no big issues, no impacts, there’s quite a bit of impact that’s starting already.”
Cape May Point joins Cape May and the Cape May County Board of County Commissioners in supporting SCR No. 106, introduced on Feb. 24 by state Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-22), which would determine that the PACT/REAL rules are inconsistent with legislative intent.
“The county has filed suit and has asked municipalities to join the litigation at no cost to the municipality,” Geiger said.
Solicitor John Amenhauser said he wasn’t sure what the benefit of joining was.
“The county is representing each of the individual municipalities already,” he said. “So you think our interests are already protected and served, but I’m really at a loss as to what benefit it would really have to the borough for us to actively be involved as a named party in the case.”
Geiger said it might be more paperwork than it is worth.
“Maybe they’re looking at strength in numbers,” Amenhauser said. “Aside from that, I don’t see the benefit with them already representing our interests.”
Amenhauser said he would keep the commission updated as he learns more.
The PACT/REAL rules take effect with a 180-day transition period ending July 20, 2026.
“The question is at whattime do you get serious,” Geiger said. “Most municipalities are starting to get serious about getting the zoning regulations in order because it’s coming up in July and that’s not far away.”
Amenhauser said some municipalities are having their planning boards review the PACT/REAL rules and their current ordinances to determine what needs to be updated or amended, and then come back with recommendations.
“The next planning board meeting is in April so if we’re going to punt it to the planning board, we should do so pretty quickly,” Geiger said.
Amenhauser said it gets the ball rolling, and the commission is not bound by anything the board says.
Clerk Elaine Wallace said she would speak to VanHeeswyk, who was absent from the meeting, before sending anything to the planning board.
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Star and Wave