The Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group is beginning the process of drafting a Deepwater Horizon restoration plan to address the restoration goals of “Restore and Conserve Habitat” and “Replenish and Protect Living Coastal and Marine Resources”.
The plan will consider projects under the “Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats” and “Birds” restoration types. Development of the Restoration Plan will be consistent with the Trustees’ Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan, the Oil Pollution Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, their implementing regulations, and all applicable Federal and Louisiana law.
We began this restoration planning effort on December 18, 2019, by requesting project ideas from the public. The submission period for project ideas closed on January 17, 2020. We greatly appreciate your input and are reviewing those project ideas that were submitted.
For birds, we will prioritize projects that restore existing nesting habitat to maximize likelihood of success and benefit to injured resources.
For wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats, we are focusing on projects that will be construction ready in the near term and those that have sufficient planning to advance to engineering & design.
We expect to release a draft restoration plan and environmental assessment in fall 2020. The public will be given the opportunity to review and provide comment on the draft plan, and proposed projects. After the public comment period ends, we will review, consider, and incorporate public comments, as appropriate, before releasing a final restoration plan.