Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott used a confirmation hearing Tuesday to slam the Army Corps of Engineers as a bureaucratic “black hole” that has been unresponsive to the state’s need for emergency beach reconstruction after hurricanes.
In a series of exchanges with Adam Telle, President Donald Trump’s pick to be assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, Scott asked the nominee if he has friends or family in Florida, whose communities have seen their beaches destroyed by storms but cannot get federal approval to replace lost sand under cost-share agreements.
The corps says all property owners whose homes line a rebuilt public beach must sign “perpetual easements” for taxpayer-subsidized sand to be pumped from offshore sites onto private beach areas that adjoin the public beach.
Homeowner resistance to the easement requirement, particularly in Pinellas County, has led to a standoff among property owners, county leaders and the corps’ Jacksonville District office.
