TRENTON, N.J. — President Donald Trump has denied New Jersey’s request for a federal major disaster declaration following February’s severe winter storm, leaving the state responsible for covering tens of millions of dollars in cleanup and recovery costs.
According to reporting by E&E News‘ Tom Frank, the denial came despite the Federal Emergency Management Agency documenting an estimated $84.4 million in eligible storm-related damage. Under FEMA’s current formula, New Jersey’s threshold for qualifying for federal public assistance is approximately $18.5 million.
FEMA documented $84.4 million in damage
The decision was disclosed in a letter from New Jersey’s congressional delegation, which said the documented damage exceeded the federal eligibility threshold by a wide margin.
A presidential major disaster declaration would have allowed state and local governments to seek federal reimbursement for a significant share of eligible emergency response and infrastructure repair costs resulting from the February snowstorm.
Without the declaration, those expenses are expected to remain the responsibility of New Jersey and affected local governments.
Other Northeast states also denied
The rejection was one of several announced Friday. Trump also denied disaster assistance requests totaling approximately $227 million from New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island related to the same February winter storm.
According to the report, the denials came two days after Trump approved FEMA disaster assistance requests for six Republican-led states.
It was not immediately clear what factors influenced the administration’s decisions in each case. Under federal law, presidents have broad discretion when acting on major disaster declaration requests submitted by governors after FEMA evaluates the damage.
New Jersey officials have not announced whether the state will appeal the decision, an option available under FEMA regulations.
