The NewsRoom
Date: April 20, 2009
Secretary Salazar: Coastal States to Share
$500 Million in Next Two Years from Outer Continental Shelf Oil and
Gas Revenues
Impact Assistance Funds will Help Gulf
States, Alaska and California to Restore and Protect Coastal Areas
WASHINGTON, D.C.
– Six U.S. coastal states will share nearly half a billion dollars
from offshore oil and gas revenues in fiscal years 2009 and 2010 to
help restore and protect coastal wetlands, wildlife habitat and marine
areas, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said today. The funds are
available for approved uses by Alabama, Alaska, California, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Texas and their coastal local governments.
“The Department takes great pride in
its mission to preserve and protect our nation’s natural areas,”
Salazar said in announcing the allocation of funds from the Coastal
Impact Assistance Program. “The funding we provide through this
program goes a long way to restore portions of our coastline and I
look forward to working with each of the states on their upcoming
projects.”
For Fiscal Year 2009, the total
allocations by states include about $121 million for Louisiana; $37.5
million for Alaska; $35.6 million for Texas; $23.8 million for
Mississippi; $19.7 million for Alabama; and $5 million for California.
The same amounts also will be available in Fiscal Year 2010. Alaska’s
allocation in 2007 and 2008, which was the minimum 1 percent, rose
more than 1500 percent due to bonus payments of about $2.6 billion in
Chukchi Sea Sale 193, held in February 2008, and variability of
production in the Gulf of Mexico due to recent hurricanes.
The Coastal Impact Assistance Program,
mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and administered by
Interior’s Minerals Management Service, authorizes funds to be
distributed to states adjacent to Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas
producing areas to mitigate the impacts of that energy development on
marine and coastal areas. Under the program, the
Secretary of the Interior
is authorized to distribute to producing states and coastal political
subdivisions $250 million for each of the fiscal years 2007 through
2010.
This money is shared among eligible
states and coastal political subdivision and allocated based on
formulas prescribed by the Energy Policy Act. Each eligible state is
allocated its share based on that state’s Qualified Outer Continental
Shelf Revenue generated off of its coast in proportion to the total
Qualified Outer Continental Shelf Revenue generated off the coasts of
all eligible states. Congress also approved a 3-percent appropriation
of the funds for the Minerals Management Service to administer the
program.
The Energy Policy Act requires that all
program funding be used for projects and activities for the
conservation, protection, or restoration of coastal areas, including
wetlands; mitigation of damage to fish, wildlife, or natural
resources; implementation of a federally-approved marine, coastal, or
comprehensive conservation management plan; or mitigation of the
impact of Outer Continental Shelf activities through funding of
onshore infrastructure projects and public service needs.
Eligible recipients can also use the
funds for planning these mitigation and restoration measures and to
cover the administrative costs of complying with program legislation.
Only states that submit a coastal impact assistance plan meeting
Minerals Management Service approval are eligible to receive program
funds. Plans must be developed in consultation with eligible coastal
political subdivisions.
More information on the
program,
including a more specific breakdown of allocations by all six states
and 67 coastal political subdivisions. The following chart provides a
funding breakdown by states and their coastal political subdivision.
Coastal Impact Assistant Program Fiscal Year 2009 and
Fiscal Year 2010
Annual Allocations to States and their Coastal Political
Subdivisions
|
Producing State |
Percent |
Total Allocation |
Direct to States |
Direct to CPSs |
Alabama |
8.14% |
$19,728,257.36 |
$12,823,367.28 |
$6,904,890.08 |
Alaska |
15.45% |
$37,471,876.48 |
$24,356,719.71 |
$13,115,156.77 |
California |
2.03% |
$4,923,124.98 |
$3,200,031.24 |
$1,723,093.74 |
Louisiana |
49.86% |
$120,911,588.83 |
$78,592,532.74 |
$42,319,056.09 |
Mississippi |
9.82% |
$23,819,815.26 |
$15,482,879.92 |
$8,336,935.34 |
Texas |
14.40% |
$35,645,337.09 |
$23,169,469.11 |
$12,475,867.98 |
Total |
100.00% |
$242,500,000.00 |
$157,625,000.00 |
$84,875,000.00 |
Contact:
Frank
Quimby (202) 208-6416
Nicholas Pardi
(202) 208-7746
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for America
U.S. Department of the Interior
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Last Updated:
04/21/2009,
10:10 AM
Central Time
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