NEW ORLEANS – Today, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, a new federal entity created by the RESTORE Act and consisting of six federal agencies and the five Gulf states, released its first list of projects to restore the Gulf in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. Paid for with civil penalties from a settlement with Transocean (owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig), these projects (pending additional review and approval of approximately $43.6 million worth of proposed projects) total $183.2 million and range from land acquisition to construction of living shorelines. This is the first funding allocated under the RESTORE Act, which directs 80 percent of Clean Water Act civil penalties related to the BP oil disaster to the Gulf Coast for environmental and economic restoration. Pending the finalization of a separate $18.7 billion settlement with BP, the Council is expected to receive an additional $1.32 billion for ecosystem restoration across the Gulf region.
The following is a statement from Bethany Carl Kraft, Director of Ocean Conservancy’s Gulf Restoration Program:
“Today we celebrate yet another significant milestone in the effort to restore the Gulf region from the BP oil disaster and other environmental challenges. While we are still reviewing the details of the draft list, we are encouraged by the approach they seem to be taking, including foundational investments in science and a commitment to funding projects that will begin to address the stressors that prevent our environment from functioning at its full potential. The Council appears to have put politics aside, choosing to focus on prioritizing projects by watershed rather than by political boundary, but have unfortunately left out any consideration of the offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The success of coastal restoration is intrinsically linked to a healthy marine ecosystem. We encourage the Council to extend their comprehensive approach beyond the salt line.
“We are pleased to see the Council leverage projects to ensure that their collective impact is greater than the sum of their individual parts. At the same time, we recognize that the work to restore the Gulf is only beginning. As this first set of projects moves toward implementation, the Council must focus on shoring up its science and project selection processes and updating its Comprehensive Plan to reflect a renewed commitment to thoughtful and science-based approaches to project selection.”
