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Council-Selected Restoration Component
Background
The RESTORE Act, signed into law in July 2012, established a Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund which will receive 80% of the civil and administrative Clean Water Act penalties resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The trust fund supports five restoration components aimed at restoring the long-term health of the valuable natural ecosystems and economy of the Gulf Coast region.
30% of the money directed to the Trust Fund is managed by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (Council) to implement ecosystem restoration under a Comprehensive Plan developed by the Council with input from the public to restore the ecosystem and the economy of the Gulf Coast Region. This 30%, of which approximately $150-$180 million is currently available for projects and programs, is referred to as the “Council-selected restoration component”.
Get Involved
Proposal submissions under the “Council-selected restoration component” are submitted by each of the eleven State and Federal members to the full Council for consideration. Individual members are responsible for soliciting input from the public and deciding which proposals are ultimately submitted to the Council for funding consideration.
The first submission window for the “Council-selected restoration component” begins on August 21, 2014 and will close no earlier than November 17, 2014.
Louisiana citizens can participate in a number of ways. You can submit ideas for new projects and programs for consideration, voice your support for an existing project, or provide general feedback about how you would like to see RESTORE dollars used.
New Project or Program Ideas
To accommodate the Council’s submission window, new project ideas must be submitted to Louisiana no later than September 30, 2014 in order to be considered for this initial phase of funding. Please review the RESTORE Act Project Submission Form for additional details.
Support for Existing Projects or General Feedback
Comments may be submitted in the following ways:
| Write | Call | Attend a Meeting | |
| Attn: Jenny Kurz CPRA P.O. Box 44027 Baton Rouge, LA 70804 |
coastal@la.gov | Meg Bankston (225) 342-4844 |
Check the CPRA calendar for upcoming opportunities. |
Next Step: The Funded Priorities List (FPL)
The Council will review and evaluate proposals made by each individual Council member. Once the Council has selected which projects and programs it intends to prioritize for the initial phase of funding ($150-$180 million), it will publish those selections in the form of a draft “Funded Priorities List” (FPL). The draft FPL, is expected to be published in late 2015. It will be made available for public review and comment. After careful consideration of public input, the Council will make changes as appropriate, and finalize the FPL.
This initial phase of the FPL will contain projects and programs that will be funded by available funds from Transocean Deepwater Inc. The Council anticipates that once the full amount ultimately to be paid into the Trust Fund is known, future amendments to the FPL will include significantly larger projects and project lists that reflect the full amount available to be spent for restoration activities. Additional input from the public will be solicited accordingly.
Additional Information:
Visit www.restorethegulf.gov for more details on the Council, the Comprehensive Plan, or upcoming events.