State and federal officials say they’re working through that process for this spill now, with news on that front expected soon. There also is another established program to get resources to small businesses and nonprofits impacted by disasters such as oil spills. That’s why a major disaster has never been declared for an oil spill in the United States. And a presidential declaration can quickly crack open the federal checkbook to help individuals and public infrastructure impacted by disasters.īut there are strict rules around presidential disaster declarations, which experts say aren’t in play for the Huntington Beach oil spill. While the size of the spill has been downgraded from an initial high estimate of 141,000 gallons to roughly 25,000 gallons, politicians still are hearing firsthand from local tourism businesses who’ve lost significant revenue during the spill and from fishery owners that can’t go back to work. It’s not hard to see why local officials would clamor for any available help. “If the congresswoman sees an opportunity to help our small businesses, I support that.” “I just think at this point we don’t really know what all the damages are and the recovery from this is going to be quite some time,” said Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr, a Democrat who signed the letter. Last week, a bipartisan group of 10 local leaders – including four out of five county supervisors, a state senator and state assembly member – plus three coastal cities wrote their own letter to Biden that also cited this request. 3 the federal resources such a declaration would bring to the area were “imperative for a swift recovery and the support of assistance efforts for all Californians.” Michelle Steel sent President Joe Biden a letter asking him to authorize a major disaster declaration. One day after the public learned about an oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach, Rep.
Should Biden declare ‘major disaster’ for Huntington Beach oil spill? – Orange County Register
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