David Zimmer has a note hanging over his desk designed to remind him of his mission for the foreseeable future.
It reads “Normal ASAP.”
As executive director of the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust, Zimmer is on the front lines of the rebuilding effort following Hurricane Sandy. The trust is a state authority that provides low-cost financing for wastewater treatment and water supply infrastructure projects, among others.
“What this sign does is it tells me, ‘What do we need to do to expedite as quickly as possible whatever we end up doing to make the Sandy victims get their life back to normal as soon as we possibly can?’ ” he said.
The agency also was put in charge of New Jersey’s portion of a $600 million Environmental Protection Agency-administered fund for Sandy-related infrastructure projects. That money will be split between New Jersey and New York.
Though Zimmer and other state officials have an attitude of immediacy, the process of working with state and federal tax dollars is one studded with procedures, checks and balances. Thus, while the emergency cleanup began immediately following the storm, the process of awarding and completing rebuilding contracts will unfold over many months.
In Zimmer’s case, he’s still waiting for guidance from the EPA on exactly when and how it can distribute its funds, so he’s working to prepare as much as possible in the meantime.
“We’re building and tweaking our database and website to anticipate what (the program) looks like, so when it ultimately gets decided we’ve got most of the work kind of pre-fabricated,” he said.
The federal government didn’t hold up the emergency cleanup. Gov. Chris Christie awarded statewide contracts to debris removal companies and monitors, which gave the town the option to do the work without having to bid it out.
In January, Congress approved a $51 billion regional aid package for states hit by Sandy. New Jersey’s first installment of $1.8 billion is expected soon, assuming the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approves Christie’s plan for distributing the money.
With the money now on its way, communities affected by the storm are beginning to pivot from cleanup mode to rebuilding mode. But Ken Burris, CEO of Witt O’Brien’s, a Washington, D.C.-based emergency response consultancy, said the rebuilding won’t happen overnight.
