Florida officials said Monday they were pleased their steady lobbying helped push federal BP oil spill czar Ken Feinberg to relax a strict standard that threatened to bar many Floridians from tapping a $20 billion compensation fund.
But Feinbergs decision to toss out a requirement that businesses be in geographic proximity to oil-affected areas to receive payments may still come too late for some restaurants, hotels or other tourist-dependent shops.
Were teetering, said Tim Edwards, owner of Destins Fudpuckers Restaurant, who is awaiting cash from claims first filed July 15 with BP. If we dont see some money in the next 50 days, were going to have a hard time making good on our business loans and other payments.
Edwards said he is seeking about $1 million from the oil-spill fund to offset losses at the restaurant and other Panhandle businesses he owns that declined amid the tourist slump brought on by the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Feinberg, who administers the Gulf Coast Claims Facility in charge of settling claims, had been pushed by Florida officials to drop his demand that proximity to the Gulf was decisive in determining whether an individual or business qualified to make a claim. He cited the prodding by Gov. Charlie Crist, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, and Attorney General Bill McCollum in announcing the change Monday.
Feinberg said claimants must still prove damages resulting from the spill itself and not other causes. But physical proximity from the spill will not, in and of itself, bar the processing of legitimate claims, he said.
Over the past six weeks, the Gulf Coast facility has paid out close to $1 billion in claims to 50,000 individuals and businesses along the Gulf. Florida Realtors secured one of the first major settlements from the fund, with $16 million awarded in August to compensate agents for lost sales and broken contracts.
A Nov. 23 deadline looms for filing claims.
Still, BP and other companies linked to the Deepwater Horizon explosion in April are the target of sprawling federal litigation filed in New Orleans by fishermen, shrimpers, hotels, restaurants and others who say the spill caused them to lose money in their businesses.
McCollum warned about the spread of such lawsuits in August in letters to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and BP general counsel Jack Lynch, urging them to support his push for revisiting the geographic standard set by Feinberg. McCollum tried to woo BP to his side saying that the company would be inundated with lawsuits from claimaints declared ineligible for a payment from the claims account because of their location away from the Gulf.
Crist and Sink renewed the states push last month with a letter to Feinberg in which they complained about the slow pace and complexity of the claims process. Those concerns seemed to blunt reaction to Mondays announcement.
Unfortunately, the perception of oil on our beaches has devastated many of our states small businesses and every legitimate claim of economic damages deserves compensation, Sink said. In Floridas tourism-based economy, it is essential that taxpayers do not bear the burden of this spill and that our small businesses have the help they need to get back on their feet.
McCollum also was spare in his praise.
While we are happy that Mr. Feinberg has finally seen the light on this issue, we continue to have concerns about many other aspects of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, McCollum said.
Carol Dover, president of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, had earlier said that thousands of large hotels, family-owned motels and restaurants in the state could wind up filing lawsuits against BP over the months' long spill because of the geographic proximity standard. Some of those concerns might be eased following Mondays ruling, she said.
This is incredible news for hundreds of thousands of businesses and employees in the hospitality industry who have been adversely impacted by the BP oil spill, Dover said.
But Edwards, the Destin restaurateur, said he continues to face a stern deadline as he awaits compensation.
We clearly are still seeing less traffic than we did last year, Edwards said. But we dont know when we might see some money. Weve been through tough times before, but nothing like this.
