Pelicans show resilience after BP oil spill but still face threats
Skeletons of mangroves lined the north edge of the islands of Cat Bay in April 2012, depriving pelicans of one of their favorite nesting spots. The area was heavily oiled during the BP oil spill.
(Ted Jackson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune archive)
The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Thursday announced a new proposed regulation to govern the spending of billions of dollars of Clean Water Act fines to restore the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The proposed rule, scheduled to be officially published in the Federal Register on Friday, shows how affected states and parishes can request grants for economic and environmental restoration projects related to the April 20, 2010, oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The release of the regulation comes a week after the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council unanimously approved an initial comprehensive plan for restoring the Gulf Coast's ecosystems and economies. That council is a federal-state group set up to oversee the spending of most of the Clean Water Act fines.
Last week, members of that council promised that the first projects could be approved by June 2014, the beginning of the next hurricane season.
Treasury RESTORE Act Trust Fund Proposed Rule
The Treasury will receive public comments on its proposed regulation for 60 days and then anticipates publishing the final procedures soon thereafter.
President Barack Obama signed the RESTORE Act into law on July 6, 2012. The law -- officially the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act -- established the Treasury's Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund.
Beginning on July 2012, 80 percent of the civil penalties paid by parties responsible for the oil spill under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act have been deposited, and will continue to deposited, into that trust fund.
Under the RESTORE Act, that trust fund money is available for programs, projects, and activities that restore and protect the environment and economy of the Gulf Coast.
The Treasury has several roles related to administering that trust fund money. One role is to establish procedures, in consultation with the Departments of the Interior and Commerce, for depositing and spending those funds.
The procedures include compliance measures, as well as auditing requirements to determine whether the funds are expended as intended. The Treasury can withhold funds from a Gulf Coast state, or a county or parish, if the department determines that trust fund money has been used for an unauthorized purpose, or if a condition on its specific use has been violated.
Under the proposed regulation released on Thursday, the Treasury will use 35 percent of the trust fund for grants to the five Gulf Coast states, including 23 Florida counties and 20 Louisiana parishes, for projects selected by the states, counties and parishes. Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida will directly receive an equal share of that 35 percent.
The Treasury also will provide grants using 2.5 percent of the trust fund for "research centers of excellence," selected by the Gulf Coast states, which will focus on science, technology, and monitoring, according to Dick Gregg, the Treasury's fiscal assistant secretary. Those centers will be nongovernmental entities and consortia in the Gulf Coast region, including 14 public and private institutions of higher education.
Gulf Restoration Council Initial Comprehensive Plan
The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, a federal entity comprised of the five Gulf Coast states and six federal agencies, will use 30 percent of the trust fund for council-selected restoration projects under the comprehensive plan.
Using a formula based on the amount of oiling experienced, the five Gulf Coast states will split another 30 percent of the fines. That portion will be used for projects listed in individual state expenditure plans approved by the council.
Last week, Gov. Bobby Jindal, a member of the council, said he's already directed Louisiana officials to commit all of the state's share to ecosystem restoration and community resilience projects consistent with the state's coastal restoration and protection Master Plan. But Jindal said delays in developing regulations to approve projects and the specter of federal red tape slowing down approval of those projects "is not going to save Louisiana and does nothing to help recovery efforts in other Gulf States."
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will use the remaining 2.5 percent of the trust fund for a program focused on carrying out research, observation, and monitoring to support the long-term sustainability of the ecosystem, fish stocks, fish habitat, and the recreational, commercial, and charter fishing industry in the Gulf.
Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, is paying $800 million in Clean Water Act fines that are destined for the RESTORE Act trust fund, as part of a settlement of criminal and civil charges between it and the U.S. Justice Department. The trust fund already has banked about $323 million of that money.
Final Restore Act signed into law in July 2012
BP's share of Clean Water Act fines will be determined by an ongoing civil trial in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. The company could be liable for as much as $3.5 billion to $17.5 billion, depending on whether a federal judge finds its actions leading to the spill were negligent or grossly negligent. The company could be responsible for billions of dollars more aimed at restoring damage to natural resources under the federal Oil Pollution Act.
Under the RESTORE Act, the Treasury also will invest the trust fund money in Treasury securities with maturities suitable for anticipated expenditures, and it will oversee compliance with several provisions in the RESTORE Act and the regulation, in part making sure specific certifications and conditions in grant agreements are followed to help ensure that recipients are accountable for the funds they use.
The Treasury developed the regulation in consultation with federal, state, and local officials, according to Gregg.
Comments on the proposed rule can be submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. Comments also can be mailed to the Department of the Treasury, Attention Janet Vail, Room 2050; 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW; Washington, DC 20220.
After receiving the comments, the Treasury will post most of them on the www.regulations.gov website.
For further information on submitting comments, you can email questions to RESTOREruleQ@treasury.gov, or you can call Janet Vail at 202.622.2200.
While the Treasury requests public comment on all aspects of its proposed regulation, it specifically states that it would appreciate comments on the following questions:
- Are there additional procedures and auditing requirements that the Treasury should require to assess whether the programs and activities funded with trust fund monies comply with the RESTORE Act?
- Are there procedures the Treasury could employ to identify and allocate funds available under other laws to pay for administrative expenses attributable to trust fund management?