Nov. 11--Nearly $9 billion in federal disaster aid has been pledged to New Jersey, but only slightly more than half of that money has been released to the state, according to new figures released by New Jersey's Office of the State Comptroller.
After much waffling, Congress passed the $60-billion Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 four months after the storm struck. Since then, a total of $4.8 billion, or 54 percent of what was committed to rebuilding here, has actually made its way to New Jersey, according to the comptroller's Sandy funds tracker.
Here's a broad accounting of the money that was intended to help New Jersey recover from its most costly natural disaster.
Federal Emergency Management Agency
In the immediate aftermath of the storm, FEMA distributed $422.9 million to 61,441 households to help with housing and disaster-related expenses and committed another $1.8 billion to towns that needed cash to clear their streets of debris.
Since those first few months, more than a quarter of a billion dollars has been approved for projects that will better protect people and property from the next superstorm and nearly $850 million in disaster loans have been approved. How much of that money has been transferred to entities in New Jersey was not immediately clear.
The $3.2 billion does not include payouts from FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program, claims for which total $3.5 billion and climbing.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
$2.9 billion committed to NJ: $1.6 billion received, or 54 percent
With tens of thousands displaced by Sandy, the housing portion of the recovery has garnered the most attention, and criticism.
According to a new report from the state, $631 million in construction and design funds have been paid out through New Jersey's largest rebuilding program, Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM). The video below explains the program.
A total of 1,473 homes, as of the end of summer, have been elevated through the RREM program, with nearly two-thirds of those being performed between March and September. As of last count, more than 2,000 homes have been rebuilt.
U.S. Department of Transportation
$1.6 billion committed to NJ: $510 million received, or 32 percent
Rebuilding Route 35 cost $341 million, making it the single most expensive Sandy project in New Jersey. Federal transportation officials have also committed $1.3 billion to NJ Transit, which recently refused to make public a report that detailed how the publicly-funded corporation was spending the disaster aid.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
$720 million committed to NJ: $486 million received, or 68 percent
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers committed to spending more than $1 billion on coastal flood protection projects after Sandy. Many of those are progressing in Monmouth County.
Meanwhile, a $167 million project in northern Ocean County remains sidelined by disputes with private landowners.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
$265 million committed to NJ: $192 million received, or 72 percent
More than $100 million was spent in rental and mortgage assistance for New Jerseyans who were forced by Sandy to seek temporary housing.
The initial rental assistance program, which has since lapsed, proved not to be enough, as enrollment in the new incarnation has shown. As of September 30, a total of 1,185 were receiving housing assistance.
Other federal agencies
$331 million committed to NJ: $67 million received, or 20 percent
This includes programs such as busing for students who were displaced and disaster unemployment benefits.
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