Texas Trustee Implementation Group Releases First Draft Restoration Plan

The Texas Trustee Implementation Group has released a draft restoration plan and environmental assessment. The plan includes restoration projects to compensate for the injury to natural resources and lost recreational use caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The plan is consistent with the Trustees’ programmatic restoration plan.

We began this restoration planning process in June 2016, when we asked for restoration project ideas from the public. We reviewed more than 800 proposed restoration projects and we included 13 preferred projects from that list in the draft plan. For this draft plan, we focused on the Oyster and Wetlands, Coastal and Nearshore Habitats restoration type. The proposed projects include:

• One oyster restoration engineering project in the Galveston Bay area
• Three habitat engineering projects in the Galveston Bay area
• Five habitat construction projects in the Galveston Bay, Sabine Lake, and Corpus Christi Bay areas
• Four habitat acquisition projects in the Galveston Bay, Matagorda Bay, and Lower Laguna Madre areas

The total estimated cost for the 13 proposed projects is $45,761,000.

The draft plan is available for public review and comment through June 19, 2017. After the public comment period ends, we will review, consider, and address public comments before releasing a final plan and environmental assessment.

Comments can be submitted online or mailed to:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

P.O. Box 49567

Atlanta, Georgia 30345

Please note: the online comment portal will be unavailable from June 1-5.

The plan will also be available at public meetings in Corpus Christi and Galveston. All public meetings will begin with an interactive open house where the public can ask questions and learn details of the proposed projects. The open house will be followed by a formal presentation and opportunity for the public to provide comments on the draft plan.