WASHINGTON - The Department of Defense will have to pay for the entire cost to clean up the World War I munitions that were discovered on Surf City beaches last year under a bill amendment passed by the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.

U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton, R-3rd, who is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, added the amendment to the 2009 Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday and the committee passed it later that night.

"The federal government is responsible for putting the munitions on the beach, and the federal government must be responsible for the cost of removing them," Saxton said in a release. "Therefore, they should pay 100 percent of the cost. This amendment makes that the law, and spares the borough of Surf City, Ocean County and the state of New Jersey of having to bear the costs of this mishap."

The ordnance turned up as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were dredging offshore sands onto the Surf City beaches as part of the Long Beach Island beach replenishment project.

The legislation also accounts for clean-up expenses already paid by the state and local governments.

"This amendment means that the costs of the cleanup won't financially affect the greater LBI beach erosion project," Saxton said. "We will continue to work for that funding separately."

The corps estimates that about $7.5 million is currently available for the next phase of the replenishment project, according to Saxton.