Archive for Federal Policy
Gulf Oil Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment Provides Restoration Opportunities
November 16, 2011 | Posted by Elizabeth Skree in BP Oil Disaster, Federal Policy, Meetings/Events, Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA)By Whit Remer, Environmental Defense Fund
Policymakers, scientists, and environmental advocates gathered earlier this month in Baltimore, Md. to explore the long-term impacts that oil from BP’s Deepwater Horizon may have on natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico. The symposium titled, “NRDA for the Gulf: Improving Our Ability to Quantify Chronic Damages,” highlighted both the challenges and opportunities of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA). NRDA is the scientific and legal process used by the government to restore natural resources following an oil spill. Perhaps the most encouraging take-away from the conference is that NRDA can serve as a catalyst for the long-term and large-scale ecosystem restoration desperately needed in the Gulf.
One of the primary purposes of NRDA is to restore natural resources and services to the condition they would be in if the injury—in this case, the Gulf oil spill—had not occurred. It is the job of the NRDA Trustees to guide the process of injury assessment and resource restoration (click here for more information about the NRDA Trustees and their responsibilities). The Trustees must use this disastrous oil spill as an opportunity to make the Gulf healthier and more resilient than the Gulf we knew before the Deepwater Horizon spill.
One opportunity that emerged from the symposium is the need to provide better science, research, and monitoring of the Gulf’s natural resources. This opportunity can help address scientific shortfalls, such as one identified by Oceana Senior Scientist Jacqueline Savitz: The lack of historic baseline data available in the Gulf prior to the BP oil spill.
EDF Coastal Scientist Angelina Freeman examines oil on a beach in Louisiana (2010). Credit: Yuki Kokubo, www.yukikokubo.com
NRDA is designed to return natural resources to their pre-injury state, but it’s difficult to do that, Savitz argues, without well-described historic baseline data. This data provides Trustees with the mark they must reach for restoring resources. Without a good baseline upon which to judge restoration efforts, the Trustees (and the public) are stuck using somewhat arbitrary benchmarks for measuring success, demonstrating the need for keeping a comprehensive inventory of natural resources. Moving forward, NRDA will provide scientists and policymakers with important data for the Gulf.
The second opportunity NRDA presents is jumpstarting long-term and large-scale ecosystem restoration efforts in the Gulf. The Trustees have the unique opportunity to fund projects that not only return resources to their pre-oiled state, but also begin long-term restoration activities that move the Gulf towards a healthier and self-sustaining ecosystem. This task is complicated by the fact the Gulf already was in decline decades before the spill. Years of mismanagement of the Mississippi River, oil and gas industry presence, and strain on natural resources has put the Gulf on the edge of collapse. Thankfully the Trustees can use NRDA—and the projects funded under it—as the starting point for reversing this decline.
Trustees for the Gulf certainly have a long and difficult road ahead. However, NRDA provides the legal framework to improve our scientific capacity and restoration efforts throughout the Gulf. While the Deepwater Horizon is still considered the nation’s worst environmental disaster, the Trustees must find opportunities to capitalize on advancing long-term and large-scale ecosystem restoration in the Gulf.
No CommentsGulf Senators Praised for Cosponsoring Bill to Restore Gulf
July 21, 2011 | Posted by Ryan Rastegar in BP Oil Disaster, Clean Water Act, Congress, Federal Policy, Media Resources, Senator David Vitter, Senator Mary Landrieu
Contacts:
Sean Crowley, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.572.3331, scrowley@edf.org
David J. Ringer, National Audubon Society, 601.642.7058, dringer@audubon.org
Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, guidrye@nwf.org
Sandra Rodriguez, The Nature Conservancy, 703.841.4227, srodriguez@tnc.org
David Willett, Ocean Conservancy, 202.351.0465, dwillett@oceanconservancy.org
Patrick Scully, Oxfam America, 617.728.2402, pscully@oxfamamerica.org
Gulf Senators Praised for Cosponsoring Bill to Restore Gulf
Bill dedicates oil spill fines to restore Gulf communities, economies & ecosystems
(Washington, D.C.—July 21, 2011) A coalition of organizations supporting Gulf restoration celebrated news today that a bipartisan coalition of Gulf senators is cosponsoring the RESTORE Gulf Coast States Act. The legislation seeks to ensure that penalties paid by BP and others responsible for last year’s Gulf oil disaster are used to help restore the region’s communities, economies and environments instead of going to unrelated federal spending.
Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Richard Shelby (R-AL) are the original cosponsors of the bill, and are now joined by Sens. David Vitter (R-LA), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Kay Bailey-Hutchison (R-TX). Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, who was instrumental in securing the agreement among the senators, has pledged to consider this bill in her committee quickly.
“The damage from the oil spill was done in the Gulf, so Congress should ensure that oil spill fines go to the Gulf, not to unrelated federal spending,” reads a joint statement issued by Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservancy and Oxfam America. “This Gulf state agreement paves the way for Congress to do what voters expect: hold the parties responsible for the Gulf oil disaster accountable for restoring the Gulf because our nation’s economy depends on a healthy Gulf region.”
A bipartisan poll conducted this spring showed that 83 percent of voters nationwide support – and 69 percent strongly support – dedicating the Gulf oil spill penalties to restoring the Mississippi River Delta and Gulf Coast. The poll also showed support among voters from across the political spectrum:
- 90 percent of Democrats
- 84 percent of independents
- 76 percent of Republicans
- 78 percent of those who say they agree with the Tea Party movement
Nearly 500 miles – almost half – of the coastline in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida that was contaminated by the Gulf oil disaster remains oiled one year later, according to the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration.
“There is much more work to be done to ensure that a strong and effective restoration bill for the Gulf ultimately becomes law and this is a positive and commendable first step. We look forward to working with the Gulf delegation, other members of Congress and the administration on passage of a bill that meets the restoration needs of this critical ecosystem and its vulnerable communities,” the statement concludes.
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President’s Budget Maintains Commitment to Funding Gulf Coast Restoration
February 16, 2011 | Posted by Delta Dispatches in Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Policy, Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA)
On Monday (Feb. 14), five conservation groups praised President Obama for maintaining his commitment to Gulf Coast restoration by recommending the first-ever funding to construct wetlands projects to reverse wetlands losses in the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) of the Mississippi River Delta.
The President’s Fiscal Year 2012 budget request for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fund LCA restoration is $27 million, including $10.845 million for wetlands feasibility studies, $5.4 million for wetlands pre-construction engineering and design studies, $10.62 million for wetlands construction projects and $100,000 for the LCA comprehensive plan (see page 23). Congress has not acted yet on the President’s FY 2011 budget request, which included $35.6 million for the Corps to fund LCA ecosystem restoration, split between $19 million for wetlands construction projects and $16.6 million for wetlands pre-construction engineering and design studies.
The President’s proposed investments are part of a larger effort that focuses the expertise and resources of a broad spectrum of federal agencies — including the Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Geological Survey — on the critical restoration needs on the Gulf Coast.
Read more in the joint statement from the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Environmental Defense Fund, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, National Audubon Society, and National Wildlife Federation.
No CommentsNew House Amendment Would Dedicate Gulf Oil Spill Fines to Gulf Restoration
January 27, 2011 | Posted by Elizabeth Skree in BP Oil Disaster, Clean Water Act, Congress, Federal PolicySeven nonprofit advocacy groups praised an amendment in an updated oil spill response bill introduced last night (Jan. 26) by U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Ma.) and other House Democrats that would implement a key recommendation by the bipartisan oil spill commission. The recommendation is for Congress to dedicate 80 percent of Clean Water Act penalties to be assessed for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to Gulf Coast restoration.
The groups also lauded GOP Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise for introducing bipartisan legislation earlier this month to require at least 80 percent of the civil and criminal penalties charged to BP under the Clean Water Act be returned to the Gulf Coast for long-term economic and environmental recovery. That bill, the Gulf Restoration Act (H.R. 56), is cosponsored by four Louisiana GOP Congressmen – Reps. Rodney Alexander, Charles Boustany, Bill Cassidy and Jeffrey Landry – and one Louisiana Democratic Congressman, Rep. Cedric Richmond.
Rep. Markey discusses the new legislation at a press conference, Jan. 26, 2011. (Credit: markey.house.gov)
“We thank the Louisiana delegation and House Democrats for their leadership on an issue that is vital to restoring both the Gulf ecosystem and the Gulf economy, which depends upon that ecosystem’s health,” said a joint statement by the seven groups. “We look forward to working with House and Senate leaders of both parties on securing legislation to send the oil spill penalties back to the Gulf region where they belong.”
The fines for violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) alone will range from a maximum of between $1,100 and $4,300 for each of the 4.9 million barrels spilled, depending upon whether the responsible parties are found to have been grossly negligent for the Macondo Well blowout. Current estimates of the CWA fines range from a maximum of between $5 billion and $21 billion.
“Without Congressional action, the fines for violating the Oil Spill Pollution Act and Clean Water Act for the Gulf oil disaster automatically will be deposited in the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and Federal Treasury, respectively, creating an unacceptable windfall for the federal government,” the groups added. “We urge Congress to fulfill President Obama’s promise to make the Gulf ecosystem better than it was before the disaster by heeding a key recommendation from the bipartisan oil spill commission to dedicate 80 percent of the Clean Water Act penalties to long-term restoration of the Gulf.”
2 CommentsExecutive Director Named for Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force
November 17, 2010 | Posted by Delta Dispatches in BP Oil Disaster, Federal Policy, Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force
On October 25 , U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson named John H. Hankinson, Jr. as executive director of the newly-established Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, which President Obama created through an executive order in October.
Hankinson served until recently as board chairman of Audubon of Florida and as southeast regional EPA administrator from 1994 to 2001. Previously, Hankinson led land acquisition at the St. Johns River Water Management District and was a staff director for the Florida House of Representatives. A veteran problem solver, he has the skills to bring people together and a strong commitment to coastal conservation.
“John has worked with Audubon through the spill and before to mount an effective response and make a healthy and resilient Gulf Coast a priority,” said Audubon of Florida State Director Eric Draper.
“From our many years working together at EPA, I know John will do an excellent job leading this vital initiative,” said Diane Regas, associate vice president for programs at Environmental Defense Fund.
“We are proud that one of Audubon’s most important leaders is stepping into such an important role in restoring the Gulf,” said Audubon’s Chris Canfield, vice president of Gulf Coast conservation. “Audubon looks forward to supporting John so that the communities of people and wildlife can heal as quickly as possible.”
“All of the folks and organizations from the national to the local level that love and depend on the Gulf of Mexico must get behind the effort to restore this magnificent resource,” Hankinson said.
Photo courtesy of Audubon of Florida
No CommentsGroups Push Congress to Pass Gulf Restoration Legislation During Lame Duck Session
| Posted by Delta Dispatches in BP Oil Disaster, Clean Water Act, Congress, Federal PolicyBy Elly Pepper, Environmental Defense Fund
Currently under the Clean Water Act (CWA), the financial penalties BP would pay for causing the Deepwater Horizon oil spill would be deposited into the Federal Treasury. However, the Treasury should not receive a windfall from a tragedy that severely damaged the Gulf region’s economy and environment. These funds belong in the Gulf.
As such, our organizations are working to encourage Congress to pass legislation during the lame duck session that would devote a significant portion of the BP fines to Gulf Coast restoration. This legislation would direct these funds to a robust state-federal partnership, including members from Alabama, Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This entity would then disburse the money to Gulf Coast restoration projects in accordance with a comprehensive plan.
Since the lame duck only is expected to last for several weeks, Congress must act quickly. Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter, as well as Representative Steve Scalise, already have introduced bills that would devote CWA penalties to Gulf restoration. Now the Senate – including other Gulf state senators – must make it a priority to pass legislation during the lame duck. Between now and the end of this Congress, our partner organizations will continue to build support for Gulf restoration in Congress.
Photo Credit: USFWS/Southeast
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