The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act program (CWPPRA or "Breaux Act") provides for targeted funds to be used for planning and implementing projects that create, protect, restore and enhance wetlands in coastal Louisiana. It was passed in 1990 and is authorized until 2019.
As of January 2017, the CWPPRA Program has 216 authorized projects, 108 of which have been constructed. Another 18 projects are under construction, 25 are in the engineering & design phase, & 54 have been deauthorized or transferred to another program. The CWPPRA Program anticipates receiving about $79.4 M in Federal funds for FY17.
The CWPPRA Program is managed by the CWPPRA Task Force. The Task Force is composed of the State of Louisiana, represented by the Governor's Office of Coastal Activities, and five federal agencies:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers administers accounting and tracks project status of all CWPPRA projects. Project Status Reports of all approved CWPPRA projects and projects in progress may be found at the CWPPRA-funded website, www.lacoast.gov. The USACE also constructs those approved CWPPRA projects whenever the USACE is assigned lead agency for that project. All other projects are constructed by one of four other Federal agencies.
The Task Force manages the CWPPRA program and is composed of the following members:
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |
Chair, Colonel Michael N. Clancy |
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
Jeffrey Weller |
| Natural Resource Conservation Service |
Kevin Norton |
| Environmental Protection Agency |
William Honker |
| National Marine Fisheries Service |
Christopher Doley |
| State of Louisiana |
Johnny Bradberry |
To address the projected land loss of coastal Louisiana, large-scale coastal restoration projects, which focus on the restoration of ecosystems, must be constructed. Such projects exceed the funding capacity and authorization of the CWPPRA Program. The Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) initiative, which began in 2001, received authorization in the 2007 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) to begin to address the need for development and funding of large scale coastal restoration projects.