State of Alabama FINAL Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP ...

4. Governor’s Certification of Public Participation
The State of Alabama CIAP funding recipients have worked diligently to involve the
public and governmental entities including Federal, State, and local agencies in the development
of the CIAP. On March 6, 2007, the State of Alabama, Baldwin County, and Mobile County
held a public information meeting to announce the CIAP and to solicit program suggestions.
This meeting was held at Five Rivers Alabama’s Delta Resource Center on the Mobile Bay
Causeway, a central location to both counties. An advertisement was published in the Sunday
edition of the Mobile Press-Register and the Baldwin Register two consecutive Sundays prior to
the meeting (February 24, 2007 and March 4, 2007). At this meeting, representatives from the
Minerals Management Service (MMS), the State of Alabama, Baldwin County, and Mobile
County described the CIAP. Appendix B includes a copy of the advertisement. An overview of
how the CIAP would be implemented was presented and a request for program suggestions was
solicited.
After this meeting, the State of Alabama, Baldwin County, and Mobile County began
compiling project lists to be included in the Draft CIAP Plan taking submitted program
suggestions into consideration. The draft Mobile County CIAP project list was approved by the
Mobile County Commission on April 24, 2007 and was reviewed at the agenda review meeting
on April 19, 2007. The draft project lists were discussed by the Baldwin County Commission at
two work sessions (April 10, 2007 and April 24, 2007) and the lists were approved by the
Baldwin County Commission on May 15, 2007. All of the County meetings listed above are
public and agendas and meeting announcements are published in local newspapers prior to the
meetings. Also, meeting agendas, meeting announcements, and minutes are published on the
Counties’ respective websites.
A second public meeting was held on August 30, 2007 to announce and release the
Draft CIAP Plan. An advertisement was placed in the Mobile and Baldwin County newspapers
on August 19 th and 26 th , 2007 to announce the meeting (See Appendix C). Also, notification of
the meeting was sent to the local leaders of Federal, State, and local agencies. The meeting notice
was sent to the attendees of the first public information meeting held in March and all
individuals and organizations that solicited information on the CIAP and/or submitted program
suggestions. The written transcripts from the public meeting are included in Appendix D-1.
A draft comment period of 30 days began on August 31, 2007. All written comments are
included in Appendix D-3. In some instances public comments resulted in modifications to the
Plan. Appendix E contains Governor Riley’s certification of public participation.
State of Alabama Final Coastal Impact Assistance Program Plan
Introduction
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