Louisiana Coastal Impact Assistance Plan - Coastal Protection and ...

I. INTRODUCTION
The Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) was established by Section 384
of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Act) to assist producing States and their coastal
political subdivisions (CPSs) in mitigating the impacts from Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS) oil and gas production. The CIAP legislation appropriated $250
million per year for Fiscal Years 2007 through 2010 to be distributed among
eligible producing States (States) and their CPSs. Allocations to each State will
be based on the ratio of qualified OCS revenues offshore of that State to the total
qualified OCS revenues from all States. To receive CIAP funds, States must
submit a Coastal Impact Assistance Plan (Plan), describing how these funds will
be expended, to the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS). The MMS must
approve that Plan before disbursing any CIAP funds to a State and its CPSs.
The CIAP provision of the Act, established by amending Section 31.d.1. of the
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1356 a.), listed five categories of
authorized uses of CIAP funds. Thus, a State or CPS can use CIAP funds only for
one or more of the following purposes:
1. projects and activities for the conservation, protection, or restoration of
coastal areas, including wetlands;
2. mitigation of damage to fish, wildlife, or natural resources;
3. planning assistance and the administrative costs of complying with CIAP;
4. implementation of a Federally approved marine, coastal, or comprehensive
conservation management plan; and
5. mitigation of the impact of OCS activities through funding of onshore
infrastructure projects and public service needs.
Louisiana is one of six States currently eligible to receive CIAP funds. Funds
received by Louisiana and its CPSs, which consist of 19 coastal parishes, will be
expended according to the requirements of the Act and the CIAP guidelines
developed by MMS. This document is the State of Louisiana’s Coastal Impact
Assistance Plan as required by the CIAP legislation. The Plan identifies CIAP
projects to be implemented by the State, by the coastal parishes, and jointly by the
State and parishes.
The State of Louisiana has worked cooperatively with the 19 coastal parishes to
assemble a group of restoration, conservation, and infrastructure projects that will
produce significant results in a timely manner. The restoration and conservation
projects that are included in the Plan embody principles of sustainable coastal
restoration and protection. The Plan components involving proposed
expenditures of the State’s share of CIAP funds include the following major
categories (maps of selected restoration projects are shown in Appendix A):
2